world that seem to have had ritual signifi cance for human
beings. By 10,000 years ago religious symbolism was well
established in art, body decoration, burial, and monument
building. One substance very widely associated with burial
was the red pigment ocher. Ocher is further connected with
the land and with sacred sites in that it was painted or smeared
on rock surfaces or onto artifacts left in the ground. Studies
of ancient religions from around the world suggest that this
pigment was a common symbol for blood and life.
A substantial number of ancient engravings on stone and
paintings on rock walls have been discovered in many regions
of Africa, including the region that is now the Sahara. In very
early times graphic images of animals and abstract geometric
forms made on rock faces probably were meant to establish
supernatural connections among people, animals, spirit be-
ings, and the landscape. Southern Africa provides some of
the very earliest examples of rock art with undoubted reli-
gious connections, dating back to perhaps 30,000 years ago
but continuing into the time of European colonialism.
Th ere appears to be a direct relationship between the
religion of the so-called Bushmen (the San) and the ancient
rock art sites found in southern Africa. For example, some
paintings depict ritual dances similar to those still practiced
by Bushmen today. Th e modern-day Tswana also claim an
ancient religious connection. According to one oral tradition
a set of engraved footprints in southeastern Botswana marks
the spot where the fi rst Tswana man emerged from the under-
world. In North Africa the Atlas Mountains of Morocco were
favored locations for ritual activities. Here rock engravings
made between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago depict otherworldly
images such as horned women and men with animal heads.
Th e impressive megaliths (large standing stones) and
pyramids that oft en mark the sacred sites of the ancient world
are usually associated with civilizations that had substantial
populations and productive farming. While this is also true
for the sites in Africa with the largest monuments and pyra-
mids, in some cases pastoralists (groups who herd animals as
their principal occupation) or other societies with relatively
small populations constructed megaliths. Herders and early
farmers in what are today Niger, the Central African Republic,
and Chad built stone monuments to cover the graves of their
revered leaders. Ritual cattle sacrifi ces also occurred in many
of these locations. Stone circles and other megalithic monu-
ments are especially pronounced in the region around the
present-day town of Bouar in the Central African Republic.
Nabta Playa, a site bordering on what is today Libya, Su-
dan, and Egypt, served as a ceremonial center for pastoral
nomads between 6,000 and 7,000 years ago. In addition nu-
merous tombs, the site has fi ve rows of megaliths that radiate
out from a center point. It also has an important stone circle.
Th is stone circle is particularly signifi cant because it is one of
the earliest examples of an astronomical observatory in the
world, predating England’s Stonehenge by some 1,000 years.
Although it is quite small compared with Stonehenge, be-
ing only about 12 feet in diameter, it is still impressive givenits early date. It consists of four sets of upright slabs, with
one set aligned in a north-south direction and the second
set aligned eastward to face the sun as it arises during the
summer solstice.
Th e Egypt-Sudanese border area that in ancient times was
known as Upper Nubia is also the location of a mountain called
Jebel Barkal that was sacred for both Egyptians and Nubians.
Th is site became especially important during the Twenty-fi ft h
Dynasty (ca. 712–ca. 657 b.c.e.), when Nubian pharaohs ruled
all Egypt. Later Nubian pharaohs built pyramids for them-
selves and their queens and were laid to rest at nearby Meroë.
Another example of a sacred mountain in Africa is Makade
Egzi in Ethiopia, near the ancient city-state of Axum. Axum
itself is famous for impressive stone gravesites and obelisks. In
a much earlier time, around 3000 b.c.e., many stone dolmens
(upright stones across which lies a stone slab) were erected in
what is now the eastern region of the country.
As mentioned earlier, features of the land and the land-
scape are sacred in many traditional African religions.898 sacred sites: AfricaDeep gorge in the Atlas Mountains; these mountains were a favored
site for ritual activities in ancient times. (© Board of Regents of the
University of Wisconsin System)0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i898 898 10/10/07 2:30:21 PM