The Dogon are a tribe of people living in Africa. "pale fox" of the Dogon. Versions and assumptions

At all times, there have been a few mysterious ethnic groups on Earth, whose heritage has attracted the attention of all mankind. These are the Sumerians, ancient Egyptians, Aztecs, Mayans and the Dogon, little known to most of us.

These peoples are united by many things - and, in particular, by the phenomenon of their sudden appearance and equally sudden and rapid disappearance from the Earth. Especially striking examples are the Mayan people and the African Dogon tribe that has survived to this day.

Regarding the latter, scientists are currently unanimous on only one thing: no one can say exactly where the Dogon came from. Some of the researchers suggest that the Dogon tribe appeared simply out of nowhere; other anthropologists consider them a branch Egyptian civilization, based on the similarity of some myths.

Many of us ask the eternal questions: “Who are we? From whom did they come? Where did you come from? Where are we going?" And the more humanity learns about itself and the world around it, the more difficult it becomes to answer this question. We can say that life was good for primitive people, who in response confidently pointed their finger at the sky - they say, we came from the stars.

But if you think that there are no such “optimists” left, then you are deeply mistaken. There is a small Dogon tribe on Earth, or, as scientists say, a mini-ethnic group. The tribe numbers only about 200 thousand people, and it lives in the jungle, where even at the height of the day the dense foliage barely allows sunlight to pass through.

The Dogon inhabit a small area in the bend of the Niger River (Republic of Mali, Africa). They “own” the Bandiagara plateau at the foot of Mount Gomburi, and they live in caves and primitive huts. The isolation of the tribe from the rest of the world for many centuries allowed the peace-loving Dogon to preserve their identity.

It is also remarkable that after they were accidentally “discovered” in 1931 by two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen, not only ethnographers, but also astronomers showed interest in the tribe. Griaule lived here for ten years, studied everyday life, wrote down legends, and even by decision of the council of elders was allowed to be initiated into the secret rank of priest.

What shocked the scientist so much? Mud huts, dancing on stilts, fields sown with millet, ritual mass burials in caves - the most primitive culture. Even when, after the end of World War II, he published a series of articles about the Dogon in African studies magazines, they did not become a sensation. You never know what legends exist among primitive peoples.

But one day, Griaule’s articles quite by accident fell into the hands of the English astronomer McGree - and the attitude towards the Dogon changed radically. Still, what can information about the second star of the Sirius system - Sirius B - tell an archaeologist or ethnographer? Well, if you rummage through special reference books, you can find out that it was opened... only in 1862. Before the outbreak of World War I, it was determined that it had an unusually high density and the star was classified as a “white dwarf”.

And if you delve deeper into scientific reading, you will know that spiral nebulae were sketched by Ross in the middle of the 19th century... Hubble proved in 1924 that they consist of stars. The rotation of our Galaxy was proven in 1927, and its spiral shape was proven in 1950... Very informative. After all, few people still know about this, but for some reason the Dogon are well aware, and this is not a hoax.

Historians and archaeologists unanimously claim that all the facts indicate that the tribe settled on the Bandiagara plateau, which is now also called Dogon Country, at the very beginning of the 13th century. There is a cave here, going far into the depths of the mountain, in which there are wall paintings created more than 700 years ago.

The entrance to the cave is guarded by a revered saint. He does nothing else, but only protects the entrance. The whole tribe takes care of this person, feeds him, but no one has the right to touch him or come close to the entrance, even while passing food. When he dies, another saint takes his place. So what secrets is he guarding?

The cave contains amazing drawings and grains of valuable information. For example, a drawing connecting one direct system Sirius and our Sun. In general, it would not be unusual if the image indicated only the most bright star in the sky - Sirius A.

But it should be taken into account that the Dogon tribe lives in that region of Africa where the star Sirius disappears for a long time behind the horizon and is out of sight for several months. Bright ruby ​​red, it appears on the morning of July 23rd just above the horizon, almost due east, and rises about sixty seconds before the Sun.

So Sirius can only be seen for one moment, and then he disappears again. This is called the solar rising of Sirius. This is a rare moment when Sirius, the Sun and the Earth find themselves in a straight line in space. But this was also known to the ancient Egyptians, who specially made through holes in the thickness of the pyramids so that the bloody rising star would illuminate the altar.

But not only that, the Dogon told scientists that next to the blue giant Sirius A there are two more stars that cannot be seen in every telescope. Thus, they clearly indicated the location of the Po Tolo white dwarf - Sirius B - which, as mentioned above, was confirmed only in 1862. The Dogon have very specific information about this star.

They say it's very, very old and very small, made of what they call "the heaviest matter in the universe": 1.5 million tons per cubic inch. And they say what this little star is doing full turn around Sirius “in about 50 years” (the error, according to astronomers, is 0.1 year).

But how did an ancient primitive tribe obtain such accurate information regarding a star, the measurement of whose parameters became possible only in the 20th century?

Another proof of the phenomenal knowledge and memory of the Dogon tribe is a small drawing on the wall of the cave, which scientists for a long time did not know what to attribute to... until computers calculated the orbits of Sirius A and Sirius B.

As it turned out, this is an accurate model of the movement of one star around another in a certain period of time - from 1912 to 1990. Naturally, the Dogon themselves could not calculate this.

All Dogon rituals are tied to the 50-year cycle of Sirius B’s revolution around Sirius A. It is impossible to detect this satellite, determine its color, calculate its orbital period and density without astronomical instruments.

Even the satellites of Jupiter, which the Dogon know about, cannot be seen with the eye. There is only one way out - borrowing from another culture.

Perhaps the tribe could have obtained information about the structure of the Universe from the ancient Egyptian priests. But the ancient Egyptians could not have known anything about the explosion of Sirius B in the 2nd century AD - their civilization perished much earlier. And among the Dogon, this explosion is one of the central points of mythology. The idea of ​​the existence of super-dense matter, “white dwarfs” in the Universe, generally refers to the most modern ideas.

But that's not all. The presence of a third small star, Sirius C, in this star system - Emme Ya, which the Dogon kept repeating - scientists established only in 1970. The tribe also knew about all the other planets in our solar system, including Neptune, Pluto and Uranus, as well as information about 226 other star systems, including spiral star systems that were discovered by astronomers later.

They knew exactly what these planets looked like when approaching them from space, which also became known to scientists only recently. And naturally, they knew that the Earth rotates around its axis and around the Sun, and completes a full revolution in 365 days, and in their calendar they divided this cycle into 12 months. They knew about the Moon, that it was waterless and dead.

The Dogon also knew about red and white blood cells, and they had all the information about human physiology that we have only recently received.

So how did the Dogon know about all these stars and their features? When the elders of the tribe are asked who provided their ancestors with such amazing information, they answer that it was Nommo, who at one time arrived on the “ark” just from... the Sirius system.

And all this is captured in cave drawings. But it is known for sure that they were not made by the Dogon. They came here only three centuries ago, but the drawings are 700 years old. But it turns out that where the tribe lived before, there is a cave like this, from which you can see individual stars in the Sirius system. In addition, there is some “material evidence” in this cave.

However, despite the persistent entreaties of scientists, the aborigines have not yet discovered its location. Either there are some super-powerful astronomical instruments there, created by the Sirian civilization, or the “gods” left something there for storage in anticipation of their next visit. One can only guess about this.

According to a version of the genealogical myth, the Dogon once lived in a certain Land of Mande and are the descendants of the legendary Lebe, who, in turn, descended from the first ancestors of the Nommo. He gave birth to two sons. From the eldest of them came the Dogon tribe, and younger son became the founder of the Aru tribe.

When Lebe died, the Dogon lowered his corpse into the ground, but before leaving the Mande Country they decided to take the remains with them. But when they opened the grave, they discovered that Lebe had resurrected - there was a living snake there. The Dogons, taking with them some earth from the grave, went underground, led by a snake, and ended up in Mali.

Having become interested in the Dogon, scientists found out that, in addition to Sirius, they have knowledge in the field of molecular biology, nuclear physics and other sciences, but, naturally, they cannot take advantage of any of this. The Dogon seem to be a huge store of knowledge, although it is not known; for what purposes is it intended?

And one day a sorcerer drew a map of the starry sky for scientists right on the sand, in which central place occupied by the star Sirius. What kind of memory do you need to have so that, taking someone else’s star as a starting point, you won’t mess anything up!

Yes, the volume of information stored by the Dogons can amaze not only the average person, but also scientists. For example, they know the planets Jupiter and Saturn, each of which is designated by a specific symbol. For Jupiter, this is a circle, next to which there are four smaller circles (the four largest satellites), and for Saturn, two concentric circles (they know about the existence of a ring around Saturn). Knowledge of the two largest planets solar system the tribe's lore is not limited. They also contain the most modern information and concepts about the structure of the universe.

Here are some fragments of Dogon legends, recorded in their words: “The earth rotates around itself and, in addition, passes through a large world circle, like a top that, rotating, goes in a circle... The sun rotates around its axis, as if driven by a spiral spring." And this is said by primitive people who not only could not observe the movement of the Sun, but had never even seen a spiral spring.

Also, Dogon legends say: “At the beginning of all things stood Amma, who did not rely on anything... Amma’s egg-ball was closed... When Amma broke the egg of the world and came out of it, a rotating vortex arose... As a result of this "yala" appeared (loosely translated from the Dogon language, this means the transition from the abstract to the concrete) from a spiral that rotated inside the egg and meant the future expansion of the world."

Quite confusing. But you must agree, based on our knowledge of the structure of the Universe, this is similar to the primary Big Bang and the expansion of the Universe, which continues for billions of years.

How do the “information carriers” themselves explain the emergence of such knowledge in them? In response to questions from scientists, the priests showed another series of drawings that depict a flying saucer. This image is very similar to the shape we are already familiar with - a plate descending from the sky and landing on three supports.

The next picture is of the creatures inside the ship. Next, it is depicted how they make a large hole in the ground, fill it with water, get out of the ship into the water and approach the water's edge. True, they don’t look like any “little green men”.

The elders of the tribe talk about creatures resembling dolphins, that when they landed, they made a large depression in the ground, filled it with water and began to swim. Coming ashore, they spoke to the Dogon and told them that they had arrived from heavenly land According to Tolo (Sirius V) they passed on all the knowledge.

The messengers of heaven were extraordinary tall and “fish by nature”: they breathed in water and therefore were constantly wearing transparent helmets filled with liquid. The Dogon called the newcomers “nommo,” which in the native language means “drink water.” And the people of the tribe called the day of their appearance “the day of the fish,” and the gods themselves were considered amphibious creatures.

It turns out that similar descriptions can be found among the Uros Indians living near Lake Titicaca (Peru). Legends tell of the same dolphin-like creatures that came from the stars and very quickly established close relationships with the people who lived here before the Incas. It was this connection with the “people of the sky” that, according to legend, led to the founding of the Inca Empire.

Moreover, in the Mediterranean alone, as many as twelve cultures tell a similar story. But the astronomically “advanced” mythology of the Dogon is the most striking evidence of the paleo-visit of aliens. The Dogon claimed that according to their calculations, Nommo should have returned in 2003.

Perhaps the natives lost count, or the “amphibians” never flew in or out, but at one time lived on the ground, and the “plates” served them like helicopters. You can imagine a lot of such “or” and even draw a parallel with our dolphins, but all this is still unproven.

But the fact that the Dogon tribe once stood at a higher level of development is not groundless, if only because the natives gave historians and anthropologists many interesting things. For example, tools that have not previously been found in any other isolated wild tribe on the planet, all kinds of figurines made of stone, bone and wood. It later turned out that many of these objects are at least 4000 years old!

In memory of the tall aliens, the Dogon walk on stilts

Some particularly incredulous scientists believe that missionaries who preached in Mali in the 1920s shared information with the Dogon, and the drawings, they say, although old, are just a coincidence. It's hard to argue with non-believers, but here are some facts. If the information received by the Dogon dated back to the beginning of the 20th century, then the natives would have told scientists about eight satellites of Jupiter (now 67 have already been discovered according to data from 2012), and not about four.

And the brothers in Christ could not have known at that time such details about the Sirius system or the spiral structure of the Galaxy. In addition, every astronomical fact among the Dogon is tied to certain rituals, which can be traced through relics until at least the 12th century!

German scientist Dieter Hermann calls the situation with Dogon knowledge about space a “hopeless case”: when it is impossible to clearly refute or confirm any version.

And Robert Temple, who devoted an entire book to the Dogon, concludes his research with the words: “I was able to prove that the information possessed by the natives of the Dogon tribe is very ancient origin- it is more than 5 thousand years old and was used by the ancient Egyptians in the pre-dynastic period, that is, until 3200 BC.”

Lives in northwest Africa mysterious tribe Dogon.

They worship the star Sirius and firmly believe that the distant ancestor of the Nom-mo tribe was a half-man, half-snake who arrived on a flying ship with one of the planets in the vicinity of Sirius...

All this can be taken for exotic legends, if not for one amazing circumstance - the Dogon have long possessed accurate and extensive astronomical knowledge, completely incredible for a backward person. African tribe.
And even the wild, almost primitive Dogon knew that Sirius was a double star long before European autonomists...

The old sorcerer looked sadly at the stranger white man and barely quiet in an audible voice began his story:
“Amma created everything that exists from the smallest particles of po.”
All the things that Amma created originate from a small grain of “po”. Starting from the smallest, all things are created by Amma, adding the same elements. Amma begins to create all things as small as “po”; then he adds new portions of small “pos” to the created things. As Amma connects the grains "by", the thing becomes bigger and bigger
After all things came into being, the great god created the first being.
His head was like the head of a snake with red eyes and a forked tongue, but this snake had flexible arms and they were called Nommo anagonno. And there were four of them: Nommo di, Nommo titiyain, O Nommo and Ogo.
Wow, he didn’t wait for the Creator to complete his work, he built a ship and set off on a journey through the stars. Twice he left his home world.
The first time Amma turned his ark into the ground. But the persistent Ogo built a new one and again set off in flight from his native star Sigitolo. The wind hidden in the “po” grains urged him on until he found himself on the ground.
In our world, he turned into a pale fox. Enraged, Amma sacrificed one of the Nommo anagonno and destroyed everything Ogo had created, collecting everything released into the "po". The Creator decided to populate the empty land, and Nommo spun the new ark on a huge copper chain, and then set off through a hole in the sky. In 60 rooms there were earthly beings, and everything around us, and how we should live.
We know what was in the first 22 rooms, we don’t know the rest. When the time comes, knowledge will come about those who remain.”
...Marcel Griaule feverishly wrote down the old man's notes. Who would have thought that these primitive savages - a strange tribe scattered throughout the southern provinces of Mali - would begin to talk about the ancestors of people who flew from outer space.
When Griol and his companions first entered the Dogon village, the locals who saw the white people timidly hid in their houses and only the bravest ones looked out from behind the slightly open doors. The stony streets were covered with a carpet of nettles. Towers of stone and straw rose everywhere, which turned out to be barns.
Several men met the travelers and led them to the “toguna” - the men's house. The “house” turned out to be a primitive shed made of sheaves of dried millet with a terribly low roof. This was done on purpose - if a heated argument breaks out and it comes to a fight, the disputants will not be able to straighten up full height. The roof is supported by 8 columns in the form of skeletons - human skeletons symbolized the ancestors of the Dogon. Near the “togunu” there is a house covered with carvings, with jewelry and skulls embedded in the wall - the dwelling of a shaman. To the surprise of the whites, the shaman looked at the newcomers with an indifferent look, as if the “palm-faces” came to the village every day and had become quite tired of him...
The Dogons did not make secrets of their knowledge, and for 10 years Griol and his assistant greedily wrote down the stories of the shamans and elders of the tribe. They slowly reported amazing things - about distant stars, aliens from outer space, about how the Dogon people lived for many centuries waiting for the contents of the remaining rooms of the Nommo ship to be revealed to them.
Lords of Dead Crag
The Dogon came to these lands in the 16th century, displacing the Thelemic tribes.
Thelemas left behind a dark memory in the form of the mysterious Cliff of the Dead. The Europeans who heard stories about him at first thought that all this was an ordinary myth drawn by the excited consciousness of savages. However, it later turned out that the Cliff of the Dead really exists. ­
American journalist David Robertson recalled his visit to this terrible place without any enthusiasm: “In the brownish-yellow twilight, I cautiously walked over human bones that crunched under my feet. The 30 m high rock hanging overhead is cut through by a niche. Ten people could hardly squeeze into it, but in some incomprehensible way it hides three thousand skeletons in its gloomy depths. Among the piles of bones, faded dusty rags can be seen here and there.”
Today the Dogon people number approximately 800 thousand people. They are extremely unsociable and prefer to live away from the bustle of the world, to cultivate the land, hiding their villages on plateaus and in secret valleys.
At the same time, they do not favor not only strangers, but even their fellow tribesmen. This is what led to a peculiar linguistic phenomenon. Despite their small numbers, the Dogon use... 35 dialects!
Sanga is considered the central settlement, a kind of capital. In fact, this settlement is no different from all the others except for its size. In it, just like in any other village, there are “togunu” and family houses built in the shape of a human body. The living room of the “genie” represents the head, the side rooms represent the arms, and the central hall represents the “torso”. Another common structure near Dogon settlements are special houses where women spend their “critical days.”
The Dogons are born farmers. They cherish every piece of land and every plant - even the baobabs have their own names here. Hunting is not held in high esteem here. The rare hunters of the tribe who leave the village at night in search of game are considered desperate daredevils and almost reckless madmen.
With silent persistence this strange people struggles with outside influence. Even Muslim missionaries, who easily converted many neighboring peoples to Islam several centuries ago, turned out to be powerless before ancient religion Dogon.
The tribe still uses its own calendar with a five-day week. Market day is special - each village sets it up independently. Mostly women trade, but the holiday is universal - as a rule, according to its “results” the whole village turns out to be drunk as a whole.
The Dogon live in closed communities governed by a council of elders (ginna). Men dress in a loincloth and loose shirts, and women tie a skirt at the hips.
The relationship between the tribe and its neighbors is interesting. For example, they are connected with Bozo by the so-called comic kinship. This African tradition comes from ancient times. Its essence is that when representatives of two nations meet, they begin to jokingly conflict with each other, teasing and bombarding their opponent with barbs. It is assumed that in this way they “let off steam” and serious conflict is simply no longer possible.
The burial cave is considered the most sacred place for the entire village. After the ritual dancing over the body of the deceased ends, it is placed on a wooden stretcher and carried throughout the village. Then the corpse is lifted onto the rocks using special ropes and placed in a pre-prepared cave.
The most important holiday for the tribe it is the day... of the rebirth of the world. The ceremony is held once every half century! In this case, the main attribute is a special bench on one leg - siji. She also protects the tribe from evil spirits.
The Dogon live below the poverty line. Due to chronic poverty, they even began to plunder the tombs of the Thelemus, whom they had previously been terribly afraid of, and to sell the relics of the defeated people for next to nothing to the European collectors who poured into these lands.
In the village you can often meet a person shackled. These are not criminals, but... crazy people - shackles are put on them so that during the next attack the patients do not climb onto the rocks and rush down.
The eternal scourge of the tribe is drought and its constant companion is hunger. In 1973, the corpses of unfortunate recluses littered the roadsides. Fathers of families, out of shame for not being able to save their children, committed suicide, and mothers threw their children off a cliff so as not to see them die in agony.
In general, outwardly the Dogon lead the most ordinary, hopeless life of a primitive African tribe, deprived of almost all the benefits of civilization and barely surviving in a constant struggle with harsh nature. However, upon closer acquaintance with the tribe, inquisitive ethnographers discovered absolutely amazing things...
Having barely emerged from the Stone Age, the Dogon turned out to be knowledgeable in the movement of celestial bodies and astronomy. They talked not only about visible planets, but also about satellites that are not visible to the naked eye. Their legends about aliens from outer space amazed even the most notorious skeptics with amazing details...

The first and most surprising thing. Since ancient times, the Dogon knew what Sirius B looked like - the satellite star of Sirius, completely invisible from Earth.
Moreover, they said that the substance from which it consists is very heavy, much heavier than earth. According to the tribe, even several people cannot lift one grain from the surface of the star. And now attention - according to the latest scientific data, this is indeed true! The specific gravity of the substance of the companion star is 1.5 million tons per cubic inch!
Wild tribe Since ancient times, planets have been distinguished from stars. Moreover, it is different from the five planets of the solar system: Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and, presumably, Saturn. From the most ancient Dogon myths it is clearly stated that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and the Moon revolves around the Earth. Moreover, their knowledge about the satellite is extremely specific: she is “dry and dead.” The Dogons knew about the four moons of Jupiter and even about the ring surrounding Saturn!
But that's not all. In their old legends, the Dogon often mention the stars Porcyon, Gamma Canis minor and many others. They knew very well that the Milky Way is a “stellar spiral.”
In one of the caves of the tribe, researchers discovered drawings, the meaning of which became clear only when the orbits of Sirius and its companion star were calculated. It turned out that the rock art reflects the orbital movements of Sirius B from 1912 to 1990!!!
No less interesting was the ancient “graffiti” depicting a hitherto unknown aircraft landing on the ground and creatures emerging from it, partly resembling either snakes or fish...

It is surprising that some of these facts became known to humanity quite recently and only with the help of the most advanced means of science. But the wild Dogon knew about all this a long time ago. No one could provide a clear explanation of how the primitive tribe acquired all this knowledge...

HISTORICAL REFERENCE

The Dogon assure everyone that their ancestry should be traced back to the legendary rulers of Mali. The founder of this amazing West African empire was great commander And statesman, who lived in the first half of the 13th century Sundiata Keita. Interestingly, as a child he was a weak child and barely survived. But when he grew up, he recovered from all his ailments and became a healthy man. The legends about him are full of fantastic details and are somewhat reminiscent of the legends about Ilya Muromets.
For example, it is described how he uprooted a baobab tree with his bare hands and carried it home on his shoulders. His strength was so great that no warrior except him could pull his bow (I immediately recall the Greek legends about Odysseus).
A special place in the epic is occupied by his struggle with Soumaoro Kante, the blacksmith ruler who seized Keita’s native lands. Like all blacksmiths, Sumaoro was endowed with magical properties - it was believed that he was a sorcerer and invulnerable to weapons. The sorcerer caught arrows on the fly, and spears broke on his chest. Soumaoro could take the form of 62 animals, and if he had to run, he simply disappeared into thin air.
But the future ruler of Mali resorted to a trick. He passed off his sister as an enemy, and she learned that there was still a remedy against the invincible sorcerer. You need to make an arrow with a tip from the spur of the patron saint of Soumaoro - white rooster. So Sundiata regained the land of his ancestors.
The origin of feudal relations in Mali is also associated with Keita. It was he who was the first to transfer part of the lands for the use of his soldiers, thus creating a semblance of the European nobility.
The most famous ruler of Mali was Sundiata's nephew, Mansa Moussa I. These lands have long been rich in gold reserves. Sometimes it got to the point that in Mali salt turned out to be more expensive than the “despicable” metal.
Moussa decided to convert to Islam. Even the fact that he did not know Arabic and therefore could not read the Koran did not stop him.
As you know, the most important event in the life of every Muslim is the pilgrimage to Mecca - the Hajj. Moussa, being a true believer, also went to the holy city. But not alone. According to various sources, he was accompanied by a retinue of 60 to 80 thousand people (!!!), and the caravan carried 15 tons of gold as a gift to the rulers of the East.
This is how the King of Mali’s visit to Cairo is described: “This man poured out his generosity in a wave throughout Cairo. There was not a single courtier or other official in the entire Sultanate who did not receive a gift of gold from him. How nicely he behaved, what dignity, what modesty!”
So this modest guy wasted so much gold on the way that after his passage the price of the precious metal fell by half.
Musa also had other “quirks” - in every city that the ruler entered on Friday, he gave the order to build a mosque.
A similar trip to Mecca played a big role in the development of Mali. Merchants flocked to the country in droves. The first university on the African continent opened in Timbuktu (the capital of the empire). Scientists from all over Arab world came here to indulge in scientific research in peace and luxury.
But the excessive wealth of the top and the extreme poverty of the bottom of the state destroyed the empire. Poverty reached the point that the unfortunate people voluntarily sold themselves into slavery in order to somehow survive. As a result, the withered country first fell apart into appanage principalities, and then received two crushing blows from its neighbors - from Songhai and from Morocco.

For some groups of Dogon, for whom mutual understanding is difficult or impossible, and the Bamana. Only a few speak French, the official language of Mali.

The total number is about 800 thousand people (2007, estimate). Mainly Muslim, in some areas persist traditional beliefs, about 10% are Christians (Catholics and Protestants).

Dogon languages

Ethno-linguistic division

According to the linguistic criterion, the Dogon are divided into several large and many small groups. Their language features(sometimes very significant) are found in almost every Dogon village. In the table below they are sorted by language and size. A small group of Bangan, located in the range of the northern Dogon, is separated from the latter due to the fact that, according to some modern ideas their language is not part of the Dogon family and is considered an isolate.

Story

Bandiagara Ledge

The Dogon elevate themselves to ruling groups Ancient Mali. According to ethnogenetic legends, their ancestors, pressed by the Fulani, came in the 12th century from the upper reaches of the Niger - from the country of Manden, displacing the local population (Telem or Kurumba) and partially assimilating their culture and, obviously, adopting their languages. What remains of the bodies are cave sanctuaries and burial complexes in the rocky spurs of eastern and southern Bandiagara (the inventory includes ceramics, arrowheads and spearheads, bronze and iron bracelets, wooden sculptures, fragments of fabric, weaving, etc.). Tradition does not report direct contacts between the Dogon and the body. The connection with the Mandin peoples is confirmed by the social ties of clan groups, the proximity of art, dances, rituals, etc. In the 16th century, the Dogon were part of the early state formation of Songhai, in the 16th-19th centuries (to varying degrees of involvement for different groups) - in Masina. Contacts between the Dogon and the Islamized Fulani, which began at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, led to the latter's capture of Bandiagara by the mid-19th century.

Traditional culture

Wooden Dogon statue, possibly an ancestor figure, 17th-18th century

The traditional culture is typical of the peoples of the Sudanese subregion of West Africa. Its study was monopolized in the middle of the 20th century by representatives of the school of M. Griaule, which led to the ignoring of previously established alternative views (L. Deplane and others). Culturally, the Dogon of the plateau and foothills approaching the Niger Valley (central, western and northern Dogon) are distinguished from the Dogon of the chain of mountain ledges and the Seno plain to the southeast of them (southern and eastern Dogon). The isolated position of the Dogon country contributed to the conservation of archaic cultural elements or secondary archaization. The main occupations are manual slash-and-burn farming, terrace farming in the mountains, and in some places irrigation farming (sorghum, millet-eleusinum, beans; the main item of exchange and trade is onions). Cattle are grazed by the Fulani on an exchange basis. The Dogon have a comic kinship relationship with Bozo.

The Ava male mask society is associated with the cult of ancestors, during initiation into which (9-12 years old) circumcision is performed. Female circumcision is also practiced. Processions and dances with masks are held in connection with funerals, the beginning of agricultural work, annual rituals in honor of Amma and Lebe, 60-year cult cycles, etc.

Traditions are partially preserved rock art(images of people and animals, geometric figures). From 2nd half of the 19th century century, Islam spread under the influence of the Tukuleurs, and from the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century - Christianity. The Dogon, educated and living in cities, have a high status and occupy an influential position in politics and culture.

In modern culture

Literature

• Beaudoin G. Les Dogon du Mali. P., 1997.
• Calame-Griaule G. Ethnologie et langage: la parôle chez les Dogon. P., 1965
• Desplagnes L. Le Plateau central nigerien. P., 1907
• Griaule M. Dieu d'eau. Entretiens avec Ogotemmêli. P., 1948
• Griaule M. Masques dogons. P., 1938
• Griaule M., Dieterlen G. The Dogon of the French Sudan. 1948
• Guerrier E. La cosmogonie des Dogon. L'arche du Nommo. P., 1975
• Hochstetler, J. Lee, J. A. Durieux and E. I. K. Durieux-Boon. 2004. “Sociolinguistic Survey of the Dogon language area.” SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2004-004: 187 p.
• Laude J. African Art of the Dogon: The Myths of the Cliff Dwellers. N.Y., 1973
• Palau Marti M. Les Dogons. P., 1957
• Paulme D. Organization sociale des Dogons. P., 1940
• Wanono N. & Renaudea, M. Les Dogon. P., 1996

Links

• Those who came to the Bandiagara plateau. Article from the collection "On Land and Sea", 1978
• "Dogon and Sirius" from The Skeptic's Dictionary.
• "Excerpt from The Sirius Mystery" by James Oberg.

The Dogon are a small African people, traditionally engaged in agriculture and living on the lands of the Republic of Mali, in the remote mountainous area of ​​Bandiagara. According to Dogon legends, their ancestors came to X-XI centuries from the upper reaches of the Niger River, from the country of Manden, which is in Sudan. They displaced the former Bandiagara population, adopting much of its culture and possibly adopting its language.

Ritual drawings of the Dogons.

The Dogons were isolated from the whole world for a long time and therefore retained an archaic way of life, almost the same as their ancestors led in the Stone Age. Despite the adoption of Islam by a significant part of the Dogon since the mid-19th century, and over time the adoption by a smaller part of the people of Christianity, the Dogon have retained ancient beliefs, including primitive knowledge of nature combined with mysterious astronomical information that has amazed modern scientists. Cosmogonic ideas of this people amazingly echo the scientific data of our time.

Among European scientists, the French ethnographer Marcel Griaule showed interest in the life of the Dogon in the 1930s. He lived among them for several years, learned their language and customs. He was even lucky enough to participate in the holiday celebrated by the Dogon once every 50 years. For this holiday, the Dogon make special masks that are carefully preserved by subsequent generations.

When Griaule returned to this tribe in 1946, the council of elders and priests decided to introduce him to the circle of initiates and reveal to the scientist the secret knowledge of the people - the legend of the creation of the world.

It must be said that these people did not have their own written language, and all important knowledge was passed on by word of mouth for generations. The narration was accompanied by graphic drawings.

The mystery of the Dogon was first discussed in their research by Marcel Griaule and Germaine Diterlen, French anthropologists who studied the Dogon from 1931 to 1952, in their article “The Sudanese Sirius System,” published in 1950 in the Journal de la Société des Africanistes. It was there that information first appeared about the triple nature of Sirius in the Dogon cosmogony and the invisible stars known to them. The article only stated facts; the researchers made no attempts to somehow explain the information received. Later, another book by scientists, “The Pale Fox,” was published.

An attempt to comprehend the Dogon myths was made by Eric Guerrier in his book “Essay on Dogon Cosmogony: The Ark of Nommo” published in 1975 and by Robert Temple in his book “The Mystery of Sirius” published in 1976. The latter tried to prove that the Dogon learned their secrets from amphibious aliens from the Sirius system, and perhaps not directly, but through Ancient Egypt. Eric Guerrier, an architect and amateur astronomer, drew attention to the fact that the Dogon cosmogonic system and their astronomical views coincided with modern scientific data and hypotheses. A fact that escaped ethnologists who were not fully knowledgeable in matters of astronomy.

The scientist’s attention was also attracted by the Dogon’s excellent knowledge of the starry sky.
The North Star and the Southern Cross are called the “Eyes of the World” by the Dogon. Alpha of the Southern Cross - "Double Eye of the World." The star is indeed double, but astronomers were convinced of this only with the help of telescopes, while the Dogon, we recall, did not have any astronomical instruments at hand.

They divide celestial bodies into stars, planets and satellites. The Dogon are well aware of the structure of the solar system. They know that the Sun rotates around its axis, and the Earth revolves around the Sun. According to the Dogon, Venus has a satellite. Actually this is not true. But in 1976, astronomers Van Flandern and Harrington put forward a hypothesis according to which Mercury was a former satellite of Venus. According to the calculations of these scientists, anomalies in the orbit of Mercury and some features of its structure indicate that approximately 400 thousand years ago it switched to an independent orbit. This hypothesis is based on precise astronomical observations and complex calculations. However, it remains a mystery how the Dogon know about this.
The Dogon know about the four moons of Jupiter and the ring around Saturn. They place planets in elliptical orbits.
But the Dogon recognize the main role among the celestial bodies as Sirius. This is clear from the name of this planet, which they call the “navel of the world.” According to their myths, Sirius is a triple star system.

Sirius is a triple star system.

Modern astronomy, however, defines Sirius as a binary system. It is small in size, comparable to the Earth, but very hot star with a mass that is close to the mass of the Sun, the so-called " white dwarf" The second star makes one revolution around Sirius A in 50.4 ± 0.09 Earth years. It is with this frequency that the Dogon hold their festival of masks. They, like astronomical science today, know that around Sirius-A, which the Dogon call the star Shigu, a small but very massive satellite rotates in an elongated orbit - the “star Po”, which modern scientists call Sirius-B. The brightness of Sirius-B is 10 thousand times less than the brightness of the main star, and it can only be seen with a strong telescope. This star cannot be seen with the naked eye, and where the Dogon got such information is a matter of speculation. More mysterious is the information of this people about another satellite of Jupiter - the star Emma Ya, and in the language of science - Sirius-C, modern science not yet discovered. According to the Dogon information, this satellite has a more elongated orbit than Sirius-B, but their orbital period is the same - 50 years. In addition, according to the Dogon, as Sirius-B approaches Sirius-A, the brightness of the latter’s glow increases, which has also been confirmed by modern astronomers. This happens once every 50 years.

The Dogon believe that this Sirius-B is the heaviest star, and so heavy that all people taken together could not lift even a small piece of it. So, according to modern astronomy, the white dwarf Sirius-B consists of matter of fantastic density; one cubic centimeter of it would weigh about a ton on Earth.

The Dogon identify Sirius-B with the “grain “po”” - the “empty shell” that was formed after the “spread of things throughout the Universe.” This - main object the universe, giving birth to the “spiral worlds” of the Universe - galaxies.

According to modern astronomers, white dwarfs appear as a result of powerful supernova explosions of stars that were previously red giants. One of the Dogon myths tells about just such an event - the outbreak and gradual extinction of a star in the Sirius system. It should be noted that nothing like this was noted in any other written sources of ancient civilizations.

Focusing on the 50-year cycle, the Dogon celebrate the Sigi holidays associated with the star Sirius A - Siri Tolo. But this date is celebrated not at half-century intervals, but every 60 years, and the holiday lasts for 7 years. This is a holiday of world renewal. During Shiga, a huge “kanaga”, a wooden bird mask, is made. The masks are not destroyed at the end of the holiday, but are stored in a special place. This enabled scientists, in particular Griaule, to count the number of masks and determine that the celebrations of Siga began around 1300 AD.

The image of our Galaxy among the Dogon tribes.

As can be seen from the diagram, it depicts four arms and two jet streams emanating from the nuclear disk, and also indicates the location of our Solar System. I wonder where the wild tribes got such knowledge?

The planetary system in which our Earth is located is approximately in the middle. All planetary systems are divided into three worlds: lower, middle and upper. Our Galaxy belongs to the middle worlds.

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In western Africa, in Mali, there lives a small tribe of land traders and herders, the Dogon. They became known to the whole world thanks to the French ethnographers Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. In the 1930s scientists spent several years living among the Dogon and studying their customs and traditions. The natives revealed many of their secrets to Griaule and Dieterlen and even allowed them to attend a special ceremony. dedicated to the star- the satellite of Sirius, which, according to the Dogon tribe, appears once every 50 years. This star is called Potolo in the native language, which means "small but heavy grain."

The most amazing thing is that Sirius’s satellite actually exists, but it is completely impossible to see it with the naked eye - astronomers with their powerful telescopes were able to discover this star only in 1862! Astronomers named it Sirius B (“B” is the Latin “B”). This star is small in size, but has a large mass and density. Sirius B and Sirius A (what we usually call Sirius) form a binary system and rotate around a single center of mass with a period of approximately 50 years. The data obtained by astronomers surprisingly coincide with what the natives told Griaule and Dieterlen.

How did the Dogon tribe, who did not even have a written language, learn about the satellite of Sirius many centuries before the discovery of astronomers? American scientist and writer Robert Temple proposed one possible answer to this question in his book “The Mystery of Sirius,” published in 1976. While studying Dogon myths, he drew attention to stories about certain amphibious creatures called nommo - ancient deities who descended on earth from the sky. Temple suggested that in fact the Nommo are aliens from Sirius who once visited Earth.

It was the alien guests who told the Dogon about the structure of the Universe, and above all about the double system of Sirius. The memory of the meeting with the aliens, according to Temple, forms the basis of the rich mythology of the Dogon. After the publication of “The Mystery of Sirius,” not only ethnographers, but also astronomers, physicists and everyone who was passionate about the search for unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and dreaming of contacts with extraterrestrial civilizations turned to the study of the legends of this African tribe.

Many scientists, however, are suspicious of stories about aliens from outer space. On the other hand, one cannot help but admit that the Dogon know about the existence of Sirius B. The simplest explanation of this fact is that Africans learned about the satellite of Sirius from missionaries or European travelers who visited Mali at the beginning of the 20th century. The Dogon tribe lives in the heart of Africa, but their lands are adjacent to important caravan and trade routes, so they know very well what is happening in the rest of the world. It may well be that some traveler or preacher of the Gospel told the inquisitive Africans about the latest astronomical discoveries, and they came up with everything else themselves.