and oppress the other. However, it is an exag-
geration to say that in Tswanasociety there
is complete balance of gender roles and prop-
erty ownership since ancient times to our post-
modern era.
In Tswana society, the concepts of the divine, the
nature of humanity, the end of life, the conquest of
fear, and the quest for the attainment of harmony
with nature and other humans were taught by
respectable people in initiation schools called
BojaleandBogwera. These schools were significant
in the sense that they prepared boys and girls,
respectively, for their specific roles in adult life.
Precisely speaking, the initiation schools were
preparatory, nonclass, and also used as critical
avenues in search of Modimo.However, this does
not mean to overlook the issue of gender imbal-
ances that existed in the Tswana society. For exam-
ple, boys at all levels were prepared to become
leaders, a right that was strictly denied to women
and girl children. Finally, when Christianity landed,
the schools were made extinct, Modimo was colo-
nized, gender imbalances were perpetuated, but
some traditional ways of worship persisted. This
includes the use of water for healing rituals, use of
drums for music, and invoking spirit possession as
well as divining.
Mussa S.MunejaSeealsoTsonga
Further Readings
Nkomazana, F. (2005). Gender Analysis of Bojale and
Bogwera Initiation Among Batswana.BOLESWA:
Journal of Theology,Religion and Philosophy, 1 (1),
26–45.
Ntloedibe-Kuswani, G. S. (2001). Translating the Divine:
The Case of Modimo in the Setswana Bible. In M. W.
Dube (Ed.),Other Ways of Reading:African Women
and the Bible(pp. 78–100).Geneva: WCC
Publications.
People Profile: The Tswana: http://cesa.imb.org/
peoplegroups/tswana.htm
Setiloane, G. M. (1976).The Image of God Among the
Sotho-Tswana. Rotterdam, Netherlands: A. A.
Balkema.
Tswana Religion: http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/
sub/tswana.html
TUTANKHAMEN
Nebkheperara Tutankhamen (1342–1323 BC) was
a short-lived and relatively insignificant ruler during
a troubled time in the history of Kemet. He became
king during the fabled 18th dynasty, but was
responsible for nothing remarkable. Few people had
ever mentioned his life or his rule prior to the 1922
discovery of his tomb by the Englishman Howard
Carter, who had been commissioned by Lord
Carnavon. Buried with Tutankhamen were trea-
sures that had been undisturbed by grave robbers, a
rarity in the Valley of the Kings, and thus the dis-
covery assured the king of historical fame.
Tutankhamen was named at birth Tutankhaten
after the deity his father Akhenaten had chosen as
the state deity of Kemet. He later took the name
Tutankhamen, “the living image of Amen,” to
reflect his return to the great deity Amen.
Tutankhamen became king at the age of 9 years
old. Surrounded by a royal house that had made
its home in Akhetaten, the new city established by
Akhenaten, the boy king seemed to have enjoyed
his life under the watchful eye of his grandmother,
Queen Tiye. She would prove to be the most polit-
ically astute keeper of the royal throne in the his-
tory of Egypt. She had been the wife of Amenhotep
III and was the mother of Akhenaten and the grand-
mother of Tutankhamen. Queen Tiye never forgot the
ancient god Amen and may have influenced the court
to return to the worship of the deity.Art and Spirituality
The pictorial art found in Tutankhamen’s burial
chambers introduced the world to the incredibly
rich material culture, as well as the spiritual phi-
losophy, of ancient Kemet. The sacred language
on the papyri as well as on the Neb Ankh, called
by the Greeks “sarcophagus,” represented the
complex spiritual system of the ancient Africans.
Information from the tomb confirmed all the find-
ings that indicated that the ancient people of
Kemet lived for immortality. Death was merely
the end of life, but not the end of existence.
Tutankhamen’s tomb gave a clearer understanding
of how the African artists were able to represent
the quest for eternal life.674 Tutankhamen