Origins of divinity
The "Origins of Divinity" explores the concept of a singular divine being in the ancient monotheistic beliefs of the Sudanic civilization, primarily located in eastern and central Sudan. This belief system is deeply rooted in the history of the Nilo-Saharan peoples, who associated Divinity with natural phenomena such as the heavens, lightning, and rain, viewing these elements as manifestations of divine power. Unlike polytheistic traditions, this Sudanic religion does not recognize a pantheon of spirits or gods; instead, any lesser spirits encountered are understood as different expressions of the one Divinity.
In the context of moral understanding, evil is often perceived as a divine judgment related to one's actions or those of their ancestors. The ancestors themselves transitioned to an afterlife but did not play an active role in worship or ritual practices. The monotheistic concept of Divinity was also embraced by the Cushitic peoples of the Horn of Africa, replacing their earlier henotheistic beliefs—focused on community-specific deities. However, even with this shift to monotheism, the Cushites maintained a recognition of lesser spirits, which they associated with the complexities of evil in their belief system. This overview provides insight into the foundational aspects of divinity in these cultures and highlights a unique perspective on spirituality and morality in the region.
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Subject Terms
Origins of divinity
Related civilizations: Sudanic civilization, Cushitic civilization.
Date: beginning about the ninth millennium b.c.e.
Locale: Eastern and central parts of the Sudan belt of Africa and the Horn of Africa
Divinity, Origins of
“Divinity” is the word scholars use to translate the indigenous terms for the one god of the ancient monotheistic religion of the eastern and central Sudan regions of Africa. This Sudanic belief system can be traced far back in the history of the peoples of the Sudanic civilization, most of whom were Nilo-Saharan peoples or spoke languages of the Nilo-Saharan family. They identified Divinity with the heavens, and they commonly viewed lightning and rain as metaphors for the power of Divinity in life. They had no other category of spirits or deities. In some recent versions of the Sudanic religion, Divinity might choose to manifest itself to human beings in the form of seemingly particular, lesser spirits. However, the followers of Sudanic religion understood these spirits to be just other guises of Divinity. Sudanic beliefs viewed evil as a divine judgment or retribution for the wrong that a person, or a person’s forebears, had done in this life. The ancestors passed after death into an afterlife, but they had no functional role in religious observance or ritual and were not venerated.
The idea of Divinity was adopted into the religion of the Cushites of the Horn of Africa at a very early period. Among the Cushites, this monotheistic idea apparently displaced a more ancient henotheism, centered on belief in the deity of one’s own particular community. Despite changing over to the monotheistic idea of Divinity, the Cushitic peoples continued to recognize the existence of a category of lesser, dangerous spirits, treating them as an additional explanation of the problem of evil.
Bibliography
Ehret, Christopher. “Sudanic Civilization.” In Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History, edited by Michael Adas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001.