360 KabreofTogo
enter the temple with the crowd outside the sanc-
tuary, and when he returned to them he would
have merged with his ka to become divine. The
king was therefore divinity before the people in a
ka ceremony overseen by the god Amen.
Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoAnkh; Ba; Soul
FurtherReadings
Asante, M. K. (2003).Ancient Egyptian Philosophers.
Chicago: African American Images.
Grimal, N. (1994).A History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford,
UK: Blackwell.
Karenga, M. (2006).Maat:The Moral Ideal in Ancient
Egypt. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press.
KABREOF TOGO
The Kabre, a Voltaic people from northern Togo
(which is located in West Africa), profess that the
first human being was an androgynous being who
descended from the sky, which is said to be male,
to the Earth, which is female.Kumberitolanded
between two small mountain ranges where the
Kabre community is currently located. For some
years, Kumberito roamed the caves and plains,
eventually becoming frightened by what he
thought were the sounds of men coming to kill
him, but were only sounds of owls hooting in
the night. He subsequently fled to the mountains
of the northern massif, where he settled, built a
house above ground, and ultimately produced the
children who founded the area’s other communi-
ties. At death, Kumberito came back to the Earth,
along with his descendents who were all buried in
caves in the ground located on the highest points
of the massif.
The myth begins as Kumberito is unable to
balance an opposition between sky and Earth. He
decides to climb the mountain located between
the two and then is able to establish the balance
needed so that he lived in peace and generated the
livelihood that the Kabre experience today. To
honor Kumberito and their ancestors, the Kabre
bury their dead in caves—hence the term for
ancestor,ateto, or “underground person.” More
important, the Kabre continue to embrace the
tradition of balance that Kumberito exhibited on
the mountain by generally living in houses that
are not located in the highest points near their
ancestors tombs. Instead they live on the hillsides
and valleys, understanding that living near the
tombs might upset some wandering spirits, possi-
bly causing harm to their families. The balance in
living in the “low” parts of the mountains occurs
because “low” is female according to Kabre,
whereas “above ground” is male. This represents
the balance between sky and Earth; living in the
low part of a mountain, which is above ground,
is essentially living between the sky and the
Earth, again creating that balance, just as
Kumberito had long ago.
The essence of balance portrayed in the myth
further extends itself to the Kabre culture through
the institute of marriage and family. In the Kabre
household, labor is divided between traditionally
female and male duties. For instance, the men
cultivate the food and the women cook. Also,
in reproduction, it is believed that the Kabre
husband’s blood or sperm is “cooked” inside the
wife’s tomb and children are produced. The wife’s
womb symbolizes a pot of water; if a miscarriage
occurs, it is said that the woman spilled her pot of
water on the way back from the spring and must
refill it by becoming pregnant again. Interestingly,
the consumption of sorghum beer (a female prod-
uct) by the male stimulates the ability to produce
children, whereas the consumption of porridge (a
male product) enhances that same ability in
women. Thus, the idea of balance reflected in the
myth is manifest again.
The Kabre communities are organized into two
groups: male and female. Each group has a ritual-
istic role in the community, and they both are
responsible for ceremonies based on both age
grade and calendar, which occur during their sea-
son (the female season is during “wet season” and
the male season is during “dry season”). In one
particular situation, during the kojunduku (the
age-grade initiation that takes place during the
“wet” female season), the male group gives a per-
formance ofdogonto, which “dries out” the wet
season temporarily. The female group also per-
forms a fertility ceremony that balances the male
dry season. More important, both groups consist