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Found this excerpt on Sudanese religious practices from an old book on magic and religion called The Golden Bough:
What it says is that the Shilluk people of southern Sudan build shrines to their dead kings next to their royal tombs. Immediately upon reading this excerpt I was reminded of the ancient Egyptian practice of building mortuary temples for deceased Pharaohs. Could there be a connection between the Shilluk and Egyptian traditions?
zarahan- aka Enrique Cardova Member # 15718
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Good find. It is backed up by anthro/archaeo data linking the SHilluk with ancient Egyptian religion, and indeed there are more similarities between ancient Egyptian religion and the religions of NE Africa, than the religions of the "Middle East".
"A large number of gods go back to prehistoric times. The images of a cow and star goddess (Hathor), the falcon (Horus), and the human-shaped figures of the fertility god (Min) can be traced back to that period. Some rites, such as the "running of the Apil-bull," the "hoeing of the ground," and other fertility and hunting rites (e.g., the hippopotamus hunt) presumably date from early times.. Connections with the religions in southwest Asia cannot be traced with certainty.
"It is doubtful whether Osiris can be regarded as equal to Tammuz or Adonis, or whether Hathor is related to the "Great Mother." There are closer relations with northeast African religions. The numerous animal cults (especially bovine cults and panther gods) and details of ritual dresses (animal tails, masks, grass aprons, etc) probably are of African origin. The kinship in particular shows some African elements, such as the king as the head ritualist (i.e., medicine man), the limitations and renewal of the reign (jubilees, regicide), and the position of the king's mother (a matriarchal element). Some of them can be found among the Ethiopians in Napata and Meroe, others among the Prenilotic tribes (Shilluk)."]
Djehuti Member # 6698
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Here is one picture of a Shilluk temple.
^ I don't know if it's mortuary, but it looks an awful lot like the predynastic temples of Naqada.
Brada-Anansi Member # 16371
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What I keep telling you folks??..that the entire Nile valley needs investigating all the way to the Great lakes regions.
Sundjata Member # 13096
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quote:Originally posted by Brada-Anansi: What I keep telling you folks??..that the entire Nile valley needs investigating all the way to the Great lakes regions.
Indeed, and spanning present time periods going back to the Mesolithic. This is when we see the first signs of what can be seen as "Nilotic" culture.
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