Dierk Lange
ANCIENT KINGDOMS OF
WEST AFRICA
Africa-Centred and
Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives
J .H. Rll
P u b li sh e r:
Ve rla g J.H . R ll
Postbox 1109 | 97335 Dettelbach | Germany
Tel.: 0 93 24/ 99 77-0 | Fax: 0 93 24/ 99 77-1
e-mail: [email protected] | Internet: www.roell-verlag.de
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contrast between Israelites and Arabs, the clan
basis of cult-dramatic performances re-enacting the
social dualism of Canaanite-Israelite society, and
the former polytheistic setting of the pilgrimage
of Mecca. By drawing on African anthropological
material the present volume opens a new dimension
for future biblical and ancient Near Eastern research.
Te text is illustrated by numerous original maps,
charts and photographs.
THE AUTHOR Dierk Lange is Professor of
African History at the University of Bayreuth in
Germany. He presents here the results of more than
thirty years of research devoted to the history of Africa
and explains his more recent focus on relations with
Phoenician North Africa. Before his appointment in
Bayreuth, he studied African and Islamic history as
well as anthropology in Paris, worked on Arabic texts
for four years in Cairo and taught African and Islamic
CONTENTS Te prevailing modernizing and
westernizing approach in African studies has
contributed to reduce the scope of historical inquiry
in African societies to relatively recent periods.
Terefore pre-Christian and pre-Islamic inuences
from the outside world have been largely ignored
or underappreciated. On the basis of hitherto
unexplored written, oral and cult-mythological
sources, the present study shows that the Phoenician
city states of North Africa contributed to a large
extent to the emergence of complex organizational
structures, such as the Sudanic states, and
inter related religious performances in sub-Saharan
Africa. Since these features have partly survived
until the present time, key elements of the cultural
heritage of certain great West African peoples like
the Yoruba, the Hausa and the Kanuri allow us for
the rst time to extend the map of the ancient world
to regions beyond the Sahara.
On the other hand, owing to the survival of the
basic Canaanite-Israelite cultural pattern in specic
African societies, important new insights for the
understanding of Semitic myth and ritual features
can be derived from existing African situations.
Tis study gives new relevance to topics like the
cult-dramatic performance of the New Year festival,
the re-enactment of the dying and rising god and
the social implications of the connections between
myth and ritual. With respect to specic elds of
inquiry in ancient Semitic religion, the present
volume deals with the ritual underpinning of the
Ugaritic Baal cycle, the mythological background
of the biblical distinction between Isaac/Jacob and
Ishmael, the cult-mythological implications of the
Dierk Lange
Ancient Kingdoms of
West Afrika
Africa-Centred and
Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives
A collection of published and unpublished
studies in English and French
Hausa History in the Context of the Ancient Near Eastern World
265
and hence in any cult-drama.176 In view of the striking parallels between various
Central Sudanic societies it is tempting to suppose that the biblical Isaac-Jacob
and Ishmael corresponded, like their African counterparts, to legendary cover
n gures put forward to conceal the antagonistic deities Baal/Yahweh and Yamm,
to obliterate their distinct divine circles, and hence to bridge the gap between the
oppositional descent groups of Canaanite society.
Turning our attention to East Africa, we n nd that northern Somali clan struc-
ture conn rms n ndings from the Central Sudan. But in this case, three highly
signin cant Israelite names have been preserved in important clan formations:
Ishmael, Isaac and Joseph. Furthermore, northern Somali clan structure on ers
a good example of a dualistic system associated with a sub-system of recipro-
cal representation. In other words, in all three major societies considered - the
Hausa, the Yoruba and the Somali - on the level of the state or the clan-family,
each section contains on a subordinate level one or several clans of the opposite
section, an arrangement which can be called Canaanite-Israelite. T us we n nd
among the Ishmaelite Daarood the Israelite clan of Yuusuf and among the Isra-
elite Isaaq - in a disguised form - the Ishmaelites and the Arabs. Similarly, each
Hausa kingdom has a Hausa and an Azna section or clan-family, the former being
in a dominant position among the Haus bakwi and the latter among the Banz
bakwi. Among the Yoruba there are the Oduduwa and the Obatala sections, the
176 Cf. Idowu, Olodumare, 38-56; Lange, Ursprung des Bsen", 9-13.
Chart 10: Pre-eminent Canaanite-sraelite deities and Yoruba legendary f gures
Ancient Kingdoms: Yoruba States
360
lically deny the Obatala people their return into town. Subsequently, they march
to the palace where they dance in front of the king, thus demonstrating that from
now on they are the ones who rule the town.70
In the meantime, the Obatala people start a night vigil in Idita Oko: they un-
wrap the statues of Obatala and Yemoo and paint the statues and the naked torsos
of the highest priests with white dots. Tis is done in rememberance of the god of
small pox and ruler of the netherworld, Sanponna, and his friendly reception of
Obatala.71 Ten the rituals of the long night vigil begin: by singing, dancing, oner-
70 Te earlier descriptions of the Itapa festival by Stevens and Ojutalayofail to mention the
cult-dramatic performances of the Obameri people and the activities of their allies from the
Oduduwa party.
71 Te legendary accounts always refer to Obawinrin, the highest priest of the Oluyare who
are worshippers of Sanponna (Stevens, Orisha-nla", 185; Ojutalayo, Oris ii a, 10-11; Owajan/
Oluyare, Woyeasiri/Oluyare FN 00, 112, 120).
Photo 4: Junior priests carry
the statues of Obatala and
Yemoo to the grove of the
netherworld, fe 2000
By this time, the
Obameri people are
al ready in their grove
beyond the netherworld
river where they wor-
ship their god and two
minor deities. Tey can
hear the procession of
their opponents passing
at a short distance. A
little later they move to
the processional way the
Obatala people just used
and pour palm wine
across it. Trough this
action they commemo-
rate Obatala's failure to
create the world owing
to his excessive drinking
of palm wine. At the
same time, they symbo-
Hardcover with threadstitching,
586 p., 30 illustrations and maps
59,80 EUR
ISBN 3-89754-115-7
African History / Anthropology / Studies of the Ancient Near East African History / Anthropology / Studies of the Ancient Near East African History / Anthropology / Studies of the Ancient Near East
P u b li sh e r:
Ve rla g J.H . R ll
Postbox 1109 | 97335 Dettelbach | Germany
Tel.: 0 93 24/ 99 77-0 | Fax: 0 93 24/ 99 77-1
e-mail:
[email protected] | Internet: www.roell-verlag.de
history for ve years at the University of Niamey.
He crossed the Sahara several times and undertook
more than fteen research trips to Nigeria, Niger
and Chad. His publications in three languages
include two books, numerous articles in learned
journals and two contributions to the UNESCO
history of Africa. He is unique in comparing African
cultural forms with those of the ancient Near East.
