Ancient African Religions

Abstract

Abstract This book is the first continent-wide history of ancient African religions, focused on indigenous religions. Drawing on archaeological, linguistic, written, and oral sources, this work examines the history of ancient religions from the Paleolithic Age to the first Muslims in Africa. It begins with an examination of the earliest burial sites, associated with Homo naledi in South Africa, and analyzes the earliest archaeological evidence of ritual activity, funerals, and symbolic artifacts. It discusses the impact of the Neolithic Revolution on African religions, as well as the rise of the earliest African kingdoms and priesthoods. It places the rise of ancient Egyptian religious traditions within its African context, seeing it as both a product of African religious influences and a source of Mediterranean and Southwest Asian influences. It discusses the rise of iron-working technologies and blacksmith cults, particularly in Eastern Africa but also in iron-working cultures in West Africa. It discusses the importance of the Egyptian religious reform movement led by Akhenaten, as well as the rise of Axum in the Ethiopian highlands. Finally, it looks at the impact of Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman conquests on the religious experiences of the peoples of northern and northeastern Africa.