HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA From Nile 10 Niger will! IlIe Je~vs JOSEPH ]. WILLIAMS, S.)., PH.D., LITT.D. r~J1ow of the Royal Geographical and the American Geographical Societies. Member of the International I.nstitute of African Languages and Cultures, Member of the Catholic Anthropological Conference. Author of Whisprri1lgs 01 the Caribbt(m, etc. etc. LINCOLN MAC VEAGH THE ,D I ALP RES S NEW YORK MCMXXX LONGMAN!, GREEN & CO., TOR-ONTO COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY JOSEPH J. WILLIAMS ( MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA BY THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., lIINOHAMTON. N. Y. 30 101-1- -+- ('\ 0'1 I .".... I . ·1F·ot~ I L -"12'[··' (f. ... h;i'fJ"1:l: 1[*1? I 10' 301----\ 2f 'f 6f Sf 'S(J;6l.i<-;{. r I"{ . 130 40° 30· 20" HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA , . CONTENTS PAGE INTRODVCTION-ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS Jamaica Negroes-African Siaves-Koromantyns-Bryan Ed- wards' Account-Slave Rebellion of I760-Grewsome Repris- als-New York Parallel-Koromantyn Illdifference to Death- Branding of Slaves-Timidity of Eboes-Bravado of Koro- mantyns-Dominant Influence in Jamaica-Origin of Koroman- tyns-"11emeneda Koromante"-Ashanti Defeat at Koromante -Prisoners of \Var-Slavery for Debt-Koromantyns: Generi- cally Gold Coast Slaves-Specifically Ashanti-Leaders of Ma- roons-Sir \Vrn. Butler's Testimony-Confirmation of Folk- Lore-Anancy Tales-Nanas-Fufu Yams-Sensey Fowls- Proverbs-Funeral Customs-Hebrewisms in Jamaica-Hayti- Virgin Islands-Sir Harry Johnston's View-Grave Offering -Koromantyn Accompong-Ashanti Nyankopon-Witchcraft -Voodooism-Obeah-Duppies and Mmotia-Oratory-Songs -Jamaican Superiority-Encomium of the Ashanti-Jamaica Peasantry-Cleanliness-Conclusion 1. THE ASHANTI OF "VEST AFRICA Admirers :-Captain Newland-Lord Wolscley-Swan7y-Du- puis-Oaridge-Theories of Ashanti Origin-From Egypt: Ar- cin-From the North: Sir John Hay-MacDonald-Captain Rattray-Cardtnall-Ratzel-From the East: Johnston-Mock- ler-Ferryman-P. Amaury Talbot-Ethnic Criteria-Dixon -Pittard-Haddon-Summary of Claridge-Contention of Bowditch-Scoffed at by Freeman-General Theory-Infiltra- tion from Egypt-Parallel Customs-Religious Observances- Legal Procedure-Architecture-Names-Freeman's Admission -Stanley's Observations-Ashanti Stools-Scroll-Work-San- dais-CardinalI's Impressions-Conclusions II. ASHANTI HEBREWISMS J . 43 Jamaica Obeah-Implements of Obeah-Make Obi-Poison and Fear-Bottle Witchcraft-Suggestion from Philo-Conclu- sion of Deane-Semitic Influence-Religious Dance-"Amen" -Vowel Value-Patriarchal System-Ashanti Stool-Symhol of Authority-Chair of Moses-Chair of Elias-Enthrone- ment of CQnyonk-Jews of Caifomfnu-Language Indications- Verbal Ingrafts-Derivation of Ashanti-Endogamy-Cross- Cousin 1-farriages-Familial Names-Marriage Rite-Unclean- ness after Child-birth-Purification Ceremony-Menstrual Se- clusion-Ceremonial Ablutions-Dupuis' Account-Yahoodce- Sudanese Jews-Summary v vi CONTENTS III. THE SUPREME BEING OF THE ASHANTI Assertion of Ellis-Refutation of Rattray-Partial Retracta- tion-Rattray as an Authority-Supreme Being of the Ashanti -Mixed Religion-Judaism-Idols of Canaan-Hebrew 1[000- theism-Divided Service-Rattray's Views-Ashanti Nyame- Identification with Yahweh-Testimony of Queen-).Iothers- Rattray's Argument-Ashanti Proverbs-Priests of Nyame -Redeemer-Ta Kora-Ashanti Myth-Semitic Heathenism- Ashanti Religion-Sterility a Curse-Nyame is Yahweh-Al- tar to Nyame-Breastplate-Misnefet-Vestige of High Priest -Grebo Bodia-Ashanti Osene-Twelve Tribes-Hebrew Tribes-Parallel to Elias-Ashanti New Year Festival- Feast of Tabernacles-Ashanti Parallelisms-Taboo Violated- Ashanti Ntoro-Hebrew Torah-Natural Law-Conclusions IV. OTHER HEBREWISMS IN WEST AFRICA 93 Purport-Racial Deterioration-Cult of the Dead-Demons' Feast-Floggings-New l\1oon-\Vriting-Oath-Drink-Mes- sias-Black ]ews-\Vilson's Observations-Diaboli and Dae- monia-Circumcision-Duodecimal Tribal Division-Exogamy -Blood Sprinkling-Mourning Customs-Obsess ions-Tradi- tional Practices-Other Testimonies-Priestly Garb-Legal Defilement-Jewish Octave-Adultery-Parallelisms-Funeral Customs-Sabbath Rest-Human Sacritice-Le\'irate Marriages -Vestiges-Glass Making-Magic Lore-Egyptian Influence- Long-Horned Cattle-Yorubas-Hausa-Ancient :\.Ianufac- tures-vVindow Shutters-Summary-Tribal Culture-Culture Parallels-Explanations-Diffusion-Envirorunent-Convergent Evolution-Contrasts-Historic Contact-Dixon's Ethnologic Africa v. THE "LOST TRIBES" OF ISRAEL II6 A Closed Question-Professor Rawlinson-Anglo-Saxons-Hu- morous Aspects-House of David-Irish Jews-Mythical \Nan- derings-Northern Kingdom Destroyed-Remnants Absorbed -Rehabilitation of Samaria-American Indians-Controversy in England-Manasseh ben Israel-Missionary Reports- :\Iex- ican Mythology-Defenders-Opponents-Concessions-Peru- Kroeber's Conclusions-True Diaspora-Spiritual Influence VI. TilE DrASPORA . Beginnings-Judeans-Fatl of Jerusalem-Remnant in Juda- Babylonian Sojourn-Return from Exile-Babylonian Com- munity-Esdras-Post-Exilic Judea-Jews Abroad-Jewish ~Ierchants-Colonies-Proselyting-Yahweh's People-Inter- Marriage-Early Biblical Examples-Absorption-King David -Solomon-Mosaic Exclusiveness-Hittite Nose-Jews and Samaritans-Pure Race Non-existent-Ethnic Permanency Im- possible-Jewish People-Ethnic Complex-Converts to Juda- ism-Community: not Race-Protection of Ghetto-Foreign Influences-Language Difficulties-\Veakenings-Black Jews of India-Jews of China-Their Discovery-Renegades-1Iongol Chazars-Jewish Battalions-Greece and Rome-"KillingU of Crockery-Present Quest-Jewish Types-\Vhat Constitutes the Jew?-Definition of Question CONTENTS vii VII. THE LION OF THE TRlBE OF lUDA . 159 Mode of Inquiry-Queen of Sheba-Menilek-Abyssinian Royal Family-Lion of Juda-Falashas-Traditional Origin- "Kebra Nagast"-\Vallis Budge's Version-"Lady Zion"-Abu Salih-Stern's Report-Jewish Influence--\Verner's Theory- 1fercer's Conclusions-Marie Disagrees-;\lendelssohn-Judaic Origins-Disagreements-Sheba's Residence-"King Solomon's Mines"-Land of Ophir-Zimbabwe Ruins-Krapf's Opinion- Margolis and Du Toit-Peters' Findings-Egyptian Statuette- Ancient Coins-Coins of Machabees-Johnston's Deductions- Semitic Influences-Scepticism of Randall-~Iaciver-Doubtful Evidence-Donnithorne's Observation-Burkitt's View-\Valk- er's Conclusions-Unsolved Iv!ystery-}cwish Refugees-Fa- lasha :Ueans Exiles-Himyarites ?-Egyptian Jews ?-Falasha Religion-Conclusions VIII. VANISHED GLORIES OF THE NORTH 186 North African Jews-Phoenicians-Origin-National Develop- ment-Colonization-Hebraic Participation-Jews of Carthage -Language of Carthage-Testimony of the Tombs-Solomon and Hiram-Tarshish-Continued Alliance-United Navies- Carthaginian Hebrewisms-Dcvelopment of Carthage-Ahsorp- tion of Tribes-Jewish Influx-Carthage in its Prime-Tripoli -Early Hebrews-Tenacity to Traditions-Favored by Alex- ander-And the Ptolemies-Cyrenaica-Pioneer Hebrews- ~'1ilitary Colonies-Renewal of Fervor-Palestinian Exiles- Jewish Rebellion-Survi\"ors-Judeo-Berbers-Jewish Sanctu- aries-Aaronides-Jerba-Morocco-Atlas Jews-Ancient Tra- ditions-Daggatouns-1foroccan Legends-:\[zab---Berberized Carthaginians-Persistence of the Jews-Phoenician Explorers -Relics-Colonies-"Dumb" Commerce-Gold Coast and Tar- shish-Conclusions IX. MYSTERIES OF THE DESERT . 21 7 Tuaregs-Divergent Theories-Semitic Strain-People of the Veil-Christian Influence-Hamites-Report of Procopius- Fugitives from Canaan-Slouchz' Statement-Discredited by Gsell-Accepted by Many-Traditional Tom1>-Cretan Refu- gees-Carthaginian Influence-Ossendowski's Evidence-Rene- gade Jews of the Desert-South of the Sahara-Ghana-Eldad the Danite-Rodanites-S lave Merchants-Legends of the Sa- hara-In the Oases-On the Niger-Casserly's Comment- Modern Researches-Arabic Records-Jews of the Sahara-In Salah-Mohammed and the- Jews-Personal Animosity-For- bearance of Islam-Islamised North Africa-"Time of the Jews"-Desolation-Nda Family-Northern Influx-Jew or Christian ?-Kisra-Evidencc of Christianity-Fulani-Theories of Origin-Morel's Opinion-Othrr Explanations-Desplagncs' Theory-Summary-Johnston's Assertion-Conclusions-He- brew Patois X. THE FLESH P OTS OF EGyPT 257 Hyksos-Hebrews in Egypt-Refug'ces-Mcrcenarics-Stcady Growth-Exiles with J eremias-Idolatry-Flesh Pots-]cre- viii CONTENTS PAOli mias' Prophecy-Fulfilment-Survivors-Mernphis-Astarte- Terre-Cotta Heads-Memphis and Niger-Retreat up the Nile -Ethiopia-Mosaic Myth-Soldiers' Rebellion-Elephantine Colony-Soldiers and Tradesmen-Jewish Strength-Prose- lytes Present-Judeans-Temple of Ya'u-Onias Temple Com- pared-Language Indications-Possible Origin-Divided \VOf- shiJ>-Destruction of Colony-In the Interior-El Yahud- Heart of Africa-Land of Hebrews--Growth of Judaism- Alexandrine Jews-Religious Freedom-Civic Autonomy-Re- juvenation-Onias and Dositheus-Temple of Onias-Septua- gint-Monasticism-Jewish Element . Copts-"Jeremias' Tomb"-Conclusions XI. THE LONG TREK Songhois-\Vhite Infiltration-Conjectural Source-Statement of Leo Africanus-Ogilby's Version-Origin of Songhois Dialliaman-Yemen-Kokia-Malfant's Testimony-Several Kokias-Songhois Migration-Probable Route-Caucasian Blood-Language-Location-Songhois and Ashanti-Petrie's Theory-Architecture-Egypt and \Vest Africa-Ivory Coast -Ichthyolatry-Ophiolatry-Ashanti-Human Sacrifice-Bibli- cal Precedent-Legal Penalty-Jukun-Akin to Ashanti- Linked with East-Shilluks-Summary XII. CONCLUSIONS 319 Pittard's Warning-Hebrew Influences in Negro Land-Among Ashanti-Elsewhere-Possible Explanations-Northern Infiu..'C -Hebrews and Phoenicians-North African Judaism-Jewish Colonial A frica-Jewish Sanctuaries-Survival of the Cohanim -Lack of Records-Across the Sahara-Decline of Judaism- A New Kingdom-Ghana and Mohammedanism-Pagan Tribes -Talmudists-God of Israel-Pre-Exilic Hebrews-Relative Idolatry-Modern Parallel-Compatibility with Real ~[onothe­ ism-Effect of Exile-Canaanitish Influence-Elephantine \Vor- ship-Jews of the Nile-Soldiers' Rebellion-Refugees-Kol.";a -Philae-Commercial Enterprise-Songhois-Kindred Peoples -Jukun and Ashanti-Later Infiltrations-Ghana-Judaised Tribes-Judeo-Negroes-Final Conclusion-Nile to (Niger XIII. CONFIRMATION OF THE THEORY . Divine Name-African Nomenclature-Yahweh Derivatives- Nyame-Bantus-:\Ionotheists-Rationalists' Error-Radin's View-Lang's Contention-Dawson's Testimony-Retrogres- sion-African Judaism-Cultural Development-Civilization- Criteria-Cro-Magnon Man-Primitive ~Ian-Final Conclusion B,BL,OGRAPHY 357 INDEX A-INDIVIDUALS 4II B-PLACES, PEOPLES, ETC. 41 5 C-TOPICS 427 D-REFERENCES 433 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS To Face Page ASHANTI AMBASSADORS CROSSING THE PRAH 82 FROM NILE TO NIGER MAPS AFRlCA Frontispiece PAGB WEST AFRICA 33 ABYSSINIA NORTH AFRlCA 201 EGYPT 273 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Introduction ASHANTI INFLlTENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS Robert T. Hill of the United States Geological Jamaica Negroes. Survey, writing towards the close of the last century, was emphatic in his statement: "The Jamaican negroes are sui generis; nothing like them, even of their own race, can elsewhere be found-not e\'en elsewhere in the 'West Indies. They are omnipresent. The towns, the country high- ways, and the woods ring with their laughter and merry songs: they fill the churches and throng the highways, especially on market-days, when the country roads are black with them: and they are witty and full of queer stories and folk-lore." 1 He is speaking of the native Blacks, the real peasantry of the Island. During a five-years' residence in Jamaica, when much of the time was spent in the "bush" in close contact with the simple unaffected children of the soil, the present writer, in his turn, was deeply impressed by a striking difference between the Jamai- can Black and all the other negro types that he had ever en- countered. African Slaves. '!!. J. Gardner, in his History of Ja»laic~. states: Great numbers of negro slaves were Imported from Africa. representing tribes as diverse in character as differ- Koromantyns. ent European nations. Among these the fierce Coromantyns occupied a very prominent place, but though their dangerous character was so well known, their supe- rior strength was so highly valued as to lead to the rejection of all measures proposed to check their importation." 2 Later on, the same author, while describing the variou classes of slaves, tells us: "The Negroes from the Gold Coast were known generally as Coromantyns. The Ashantees and the Fans described 1 Robert T. Hill, Cuba and Porto Rico with th. olher Islalws of the IVrsl Indies. New York. 1898. p. 227. 2 W. J. Gardner, History of Jamaica, London, J909, p. 132. 1 2 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA by du Chaillu were included in this term. They were strong and active, and on this account valued by the planters. The Spanish and the French colonists shunned them on account of their ferocious tendencies; but attempts to prohibit their importation into Jamaica failed, though they were the instigators and leaders of every rebellion." 8 Bryan Edwards, the historian, for many years a !7c~~~.dwards' resident of Jamaica and a member of the Council,' furnishes us with the most authentic description of these Koromantyn slaves, and as an appreciation of their char· acteristic traits will help to clarify what follows, a somewhat lengthy quotation from his graphic account may be pardoned. Speaking from his personal observations, he says: "The circum- stances which distinguish the Koromantyn, or Gold Coast, Negroes, from all others, are firmness both of body and mind; a ferociousness of disposition; but withal, activity, courage, and a stubbornness, or what an ancient Roman would have deemed an elevation, of soul, which prompts them to enterprises of difficulty and danger; and enables them to meet death, in its most horrible shape, with fortitude and indifference. They sometimes take to labour with great promptitude and alacrity, and have constitu- tions well adapted for it; for many of them have undoubtedly been slaves in Africa :-1 have interrogated great numbers on this sub- ject, and although some of them asserted they were born free, who as it afterwards proved by the testimony of their own rela- tions, were actually sold as slaves by their masters; others frankly confessed to me that they had no claim to freedom in their own country, and were sold either to pay the debts, or to e.xpiate the crimes, of their owners. On the other hand, the Gold Coast being inhabited by various different tribes which are engaged in per- petual warfare and hostility with each other, there cannot be a doubt that many of the captives taken in battle, and sold in the European settlements, were of free condition in their native coun- try, and perhaps the owners of slaves themselves. It is not wonder- ful that SUcll men should endeavour, even by means the most desperate, to regain the freedom of which they had been deprived; nor do I conceive that any further circumstances are necessary to • Idem, p. 175. 'Frank Cundall, Historic Jamaica, London, 1915, p. 308 if. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON J AMAICA CUSTOMS 3 prompt them to action, than that of being sold into captivity in a distant country. I mean only to state facts as I find them. Such I well know was the origin of the Negro rebellion Slave which happened in Jamaica in 1760. It arose at the Rebellion of 1160. instigation of a Koromantyn Negro of the name of Tacky, who had been a chief in Guiney; and it broke out on the Frontier plantation in St. Mary's parish, be- longing to the late Ballard Bechford, and the adjoining estate of Trinity, the property of my deceased relation and benefactor Zachary Bayly. On these plantations were upwards of 100 Gold Coast Negroes newly imported, and I do not believe that an in- dividual amongst them had received the least shadow of ill treat- ment from the time of their arrival there. Concerning those on Trinity estate, I can pronounce of my own knowledge that they were under the government of an overseer of singular tenderness and humanity. His name was Abraham Fletcher, and let it be remembered, in justice even to the rebels, and as a lesson to other overseers, that his life was spared from respect to his virtues. The insurgents had heard of his character from the other Tegroes, and suffered him to pass through them unmolested-this fact appeared in evidence. Having collected themselves into a body about one o'clock in the morning, they proceeded to the fort at Port Maria; killed the sentinel, and provided themselves with as great a quan- tity of arms and ammunition as they could conveniently dispose of. Being by this time joined by a number of their countrymen from the neighbouring plantations, they marched up the high road that led to the interior parts of the country, carrying death and desolation as they went. At Ballard's Valley they surrounded the overseer's house about four in the morning, in which eight or ten White people were in bed, everyone of whom they butchered in the most savage manner, and literally drank their blood mixed with rum. At E her, and other estates, they exhibited the same tragedy; and then set fire to the buildings and canes. In one morn- ing they murdered between thirty and forty Whites, not sparing even infants at the breast, before their progress was stopped. Tacky, the Chief, was killed in the woods, by one of the parties that went in pursuit of them; but some others of the ringleaders being taken, and a general inclination to revolt appearing among all the Koromantyn Negroes in the island, it was thought neces- 4 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA sary to make a few terrible examples of some of the most guilty. Of three who were clearly proved to have been Grewsome Reprisals. concerned in the murders committed at Ballard's Valley, one was condemned to be burned, and the other two to be hung up alive in irons, and left to perish in that dreadful situation. The wretch that was burned was made to sit on the ground, and his body being chained to an iron stake, the fire was applied to his feet. He uttered no groan, and saw his legs reduced to ashes with the utmost firmness and composure; a fter which one of his arms by some means getting loose, he snatched a brand from the fire that was consuming him, and flung it in the face of the executioner. The two that were hung up alive were indulged, at their own request, with a hearty meal imme- diately before they were suspended on the gibbet, which was erected in the parade of the town of Kingston. From that time, until they expired, they never uttered the least complaint, except only of cold in the night, but diverted themselves all day long in discourse with their countrymen, who were permitted, very im- properly, to surround the gibbet. On the seventh day a notion pre- vailed among the spectators, that one of them wished to com- municate an important secret to his master, my near relation; who being in St. Mary's parish, the commanding officer sent for me. I endeavoured, by means of an interpreter, to let him know that I was present; but I could not understand what he said in return. I remember that both he and his fellow sufferer laughed immoderately at something that occurred-I know not what. The next morning one of them silently e.-xpired, as did the other on the morning of the ninth day." 5 We may here be allowed to digress long enough New York Parallel. to remark that while one cannot help being shocked at this inhuman treatment, it does not behoove us to reproach the Jamaica Planters. For, it is reported that after a negro insurrection in New York in 1741, no less than thirteen unfortunate Blacks were given to the flames, eighteen were im- prisoned and eighty-eight deported· 5 Bryan Edwards, History Civil Dud Commercial 0/ the British ~V£'st [tidies, London, 1793, Vol. II, p. 63 If. o Cfr. "Villiam S. Nelson, La Race N01'rt! dan.s itJ DJmocratie Amc,icai,te, Paris, 1922, p. 3. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS But let us now return to the narrative of Bryan Koromantyn Edwards. He continues: "The courage or uncon- Indifference to Death. cern, which the people of this country mani fest at the approach of death, arises, doubtless, in a great measure, from their national manners, wars and superstitions. which are all in the highest degree. sayage and sanguinary. A power over the li"es of his slaves is possessed. and exercised too, on very frivolous occasions, without compunction and scruple, by every master of slaves on the Gold Coast. Fathers have the like power over their children. In their wars they are bloody and cruel beyond any nation that ever existed; for all such of their captives as they reserve not for slaves, they murder with circum- stances of outrageous barbarity; cutting them across the face, and tearing away the under jaw, which they preserve as a trophy, leaving the miserable victims to perish in that condition. I have collected this account from themseh es. They tell me like- wise, that whenever a considerable man expires, several of his wives, and a great number of his slaves, are sacrificed at his fun- eral. This is done, say they, that he may be properly attended in the next world. This circumstance has been confirmed to me by every Gold Coast Tegro that I have interrogated on the subject, and I have enquired of many. In a country where executions are so frequent, and human blood is spilt with so little remorse, death must necessarily have lost many of its terrors; and the natives in general, conscious they have no security even for the day that is passing over them, seem prepared for, and re igned to, the fate that probably awaits them. This contempt of death, or in- difference about life, they bring with them to the West Indies; but if fortunately they fall into good hands at first, and become well settled, they acquire by degrees other sentiments and no- tions. :t\'ature resumes her lawful inAuence over them. \\,ith the consciousness of security, the love of existence also, amidst all the evils that attend it in a state of slavery, gains admission into their bosoms. They feel it, and, such is the force of habitual barbarity, seem ashamed of their own weakness. A gentleman of Jamaica visiting a valuable Koromantyn :t\'egro that lias sick, and perceiving that he was thoughtful and dejected, endeavoure9 by soothing and encouraging language, to raise his drooping spir- 6 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA its. Massa, said the Negro, in a tone of self-reproach and con- scious degeneracy, since me come to White man's country me lub (love) life too much! "Even the children brought from the Gold Coast manifest an evident superiority both in hardiness of frame, and vigour of mind, over all the young people of the same age that are imported from other parts of Africa. The like firmness and intrepidity which are distinguished in adults of this nation, are visible in their boys at an age which might be thought too tender to re- ceive any lasting impression, either from precept or example.- I have been myself an eye-witness to the truth of this remark, in the circumstances I am about to relate. A gentleman of my ac- quaintance, who had purchased at the same time ten Koromantyn boys, and the like number of Eboes, the eldest of the whole ap- parently not more than thirteen years of age, Branding of Slaves. caused them all to be collected and brought before him in my presence, to be marked on the breast. This operation is performed by heating a small silver brand, com- posed of one or two letters, in the flame of spirits of wine, and applying it to the skin, which is previously anointed with sweet oil. The application is instantaneous, and the pain momentary. Nevertheless it may be easily supposed that the apparatus must have a frightful appearance to a child. Accordingly, when the first boy, who happened to be one of the Eboes, T imidity of Eboes. and the stoutest of the whole, was led forward to receive the mark, he screamed dreadfully, while his companions of the same nation mani fested strong emotions of sympathetic terror. The gentleman stopped his hand; but the Bravado of Koromantyn boys, laughing aloud, and, immedi- Koromantyns. ately coming forward of their own accord, of- fered their bosoms undauntedly to the brand, and receiving its impression without flinching in the least, snapt their fingers in exultation over the poor Eboes. "One cannot surely but lament, that a people thus naturally emulou and intrepid, should be sunk into so deplorable a state of barbarity and superstition; and that their spirits should ever be broken down by the yoke of slavery! \Vhatever may be al- lowed concerning their ferociousness and implacability in their present notions of right and wrong, I am persuaded that they pos- ASH ANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS 7 sess qualities which are capable of, and well deserve cultivation and improvement." 7 \Vho, then, were these Koromantyns, who as a Dominant matter of fact, maintained a commanding influ- Influence in Jamaica. ence over all the other types of slaves, even impos- ing on them their own peculiar superstitions and religious practices. and who have left their impress on the gen- eral population of the Island to such an extent that they may undoubtedly be declared the dominant influence in evolving our Jamaica peasant of the present day? The term Koromantyn, or as we frequently find ~~::':!tyns. it Coromantyn spelt with a C, was not the name of any particular race or tribe. Strictly speaking, it was applied in general to those slaves who were brought from the Gold Coast in West Africa and who measured up to a cer- tain standard or quality. Its derivation can only be conjectured with more or less plausibil ity. Captain Rattray, while describing the great oath "Memeneda Koromante. " of the Ashanti whereby they appeal for justice directly to the paramount chief, possibly throws some light on the subject. This solemn oath was taken merely by uttering the words "Memeneda Koromante," that is, literally, "Koromante Saturday," and the real import of the words was this: If the King or paramount chief did not render justice to the one who was making the appeal, might the same evil befall the people as had happened at Koromante on a Saturday. Thus the oath was in reality a conditional curse. The author then goes on to state, that it was at a place called Koromante that Ossai Panyin of Coomasie was defeated and slain, and adds: "This calamity was considered so terrible that even the name came to be proscribed and became known simply as ntam kese, the great oath." 8 Lt. Col. Ellis, formerly of the lately disbanded Ashanti Defeat at West India Regiment, who spent many years upon Koromante. the Gold Coast, thus refers to this incident which took place in a war between the Ashanti and the Akims: "As Osai Tuto was on his way to join this army with a 1 Bryan Edward •• 1. c. Vol. II. p. 64 If. 8 R. Sutherland Rattray. Ash• • ' i Proverbs, Oxford, 1916. # 496. p . 130. 8 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA small escort, he and his followers were suddenly attacked by a strong body of the enemy, which, lying in ambush, fell upon them as they were crossing the Prah. The King was wounded in the side at the first fire; but he threw himsel f out of his hammock, and was rallying his men, when a second volley was discharged, and he fell dead upon his face in the river." 9 The brother of Ossai Tuto shortly after crushed the Akims and completely oblit- erated the town of Koromante, or as Ellis calls it Acromanti, where "the party of Akims who had slain Osai Tuto was halted on the night previous to their attack, every living creature found in it being put to death. and every house razed to the ground." 10 As the main supply of sla\'es, especially at the Prisoners of War. start, was drawn from the prisoners taken in the endless tribal wars, it is just barely possible that the few captives taken at Koromante may well have been the first of a type that was henceforth to be classified as Koromantyns. Then, aO'ain, the great oath or curse might itself indicate a like origin of this particular class of slaves, as we shall see shortly. For aside from the prisoners of war, it was no uncommon thing for the native tribes to sell into bondage debtors and criminals generally. Mungo Park, the intrepid adventurer of the clos- Slavery for Debt. ing days of the eighteenth century, who pene- trated alone into the very heart of \Vest Africa, and who lost his life there on the occasion of his second expedi- tion of di covery, states from his own observations: "Of all the offences, if insolvency may be so called, to which the laws of Africa have affixed the punishment of slavery this is the most common." 11 At times too, the petty chieftains helped along their revenues by assessing different villages a certain number of victims who were to be e.xchanged at the coast for rum and powder. 'Vhat more natural then, than that the victim of his chieftain's greed should utter the great oath or curse against him, and with "!\lemeneda Koromante" on his lips that he should be started • A. B. Ellis, A History of tile Gold Coast of West Africa, London. 1893. p.88. ,. Idem, p. 88. 11 Mungo Park, Trot'c/S ill tire blterior Districts of A/rica, London, 1810, p. 441. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS 9 into bondage, his curse mistaken by the slavers for a homesick wail for his people and his country. This, however, is of course mere conjecture. In any case, sufficient for our present purpose is Koromantyns: the explanation of Ellis, when he writes: "The Generically Gold Coast Gold Coast negroes are termed Koromantees or Slaves. Koromantyns, in the jargon of the slave-traders, this name being a corruption of Coromantine, whence the English had first exported slaves. They were distin- guished from all other slaves by their courage, firmness, and im- patience of control; characteristics which caused numerous mutin- ies on board the slavers, and several rebellions in the West Indies. In fact every rebellion of Slaves in Jamaica originated with, and was generally confined to, the Koromantees; and their independ- ence of character became so generally recognised that at one time the legislature of Jamaica proposed that a bill should be brought in for laying an additional duty upon the 'Fantin, Akin and Ashanti negroes, and all others, commonly called Koromantees,' that should be imported. The superior physique of the Gold Coast Xegroes, however, rendered them very valuable as labourers, and this bill met with so much opposition that it was withdrawn; and, notwithstanding their dangerous character, large numbers con- tinued to be introduced to the island." 1 Z While this derivation of the term would include Specifically Ashan ti. both Fantis and Akims with the Ashanti, the real Koromantyn of type was preeminently an Ashanti, as Si r Harry Johnston clearly recognise 18 Moreover, in connection with the fearless inde- Leaders of pendence and uncompromising spirit of the Gold Maroons. Coast Negro, whether we call him Ashanti or Koromantyn, it is well to remember that the Maroons of the Jamaica Mountains who wrote their own chapter of daring in the history of the Island were for the most part re- cruited, at least as regards their leaders, from the same group.' I "Ellis, Histor,)' of the Gold Coast, p. 94. IS Harry H. Johnston, A History of the Co(o,~iza/ion of Africa by Alien Races, Cambridge, 1913, p. 124. it Note :-Commander Bedford Pim, R.N. on February I, 1866. read a paper, befpre the ~thro'pological Society of London, on the Negro and Jamaica, In connection with the then recent rebellion in the Island. In the course of the discussion which followed, a Mr. Harris, speaking from pcr- 10 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Sir William Butler, who arrived on the Gold Coast Sir Wm. Butler's to take part in the Ashanti Campaign in October, Testimony. 1873, tells us in his autobiography: "This coast has been for two hundred and more years the greatest slave preserve in the world. All those castles dotted along the surf-beaten shore at ten or twelve miles intervals were the prisons where, in the days of the slave-trade, millions of wretched negroes had been immured, waiting the arrival of slave-ships from Bristol or Liverpool to load the human cargo for West Indian or American ports. It would not be too much to say that from each of these prison castles to some West Indian port, a cable of slave skeletons must be lying at the bottom of the ocean. In that terrible trade the protected tribes of the coast were the prime brokers. They bought from the black interior kingdoms of Dahomey and Ashanti, and they sold to the white merchant trad- ers of Europe; slaves, rum and gunpowder were the chief items in the bills of lading. The gunpowder went to the interior, the rum was dnmk on the coast, the slaves, or those who survived among them, went to America. If two in ten lived through the horrors of the middle passage, the trade paid." 15 This would in- dicate, first of all, that the Koromantyn was not a native of the Coast, but was brought from the interior, and secondly, directly indicates the Ashanti as the source of supply. . This theory, that the Koromantyns, at least as ~~:~~~t.on of regards their leading spirits, were in reality Ashanti, is strongly supported by the folk-lore and present-day customs of the Jamaica "bush." Even Obeah, as it is practiced in the interior of the Island, with its cognate branches of Duppyism and Myalism, is directly traceable to the superstitions and practices of the Ashanti in West Africa. sonal observation, said in reference to the Maroons of Sierra Leone who had been transported from Jamaica by way of Halifax: "The Maroons are prin- cipally descendants of the Gold Coast tribes, and still retain amongst them the same religious superstitions, customs, and common names, as, for in- stance, the naming of their children after the days of the week upon which they were born, such as Quamin (Monday), the son of Quacco (Thursday), each day being denoted by the masculine and feminine gender. They boast of being directly descended, or having been concerned in the Jamaica re- bellion at the end of the eighteenth century, as partisans of King Cudjoe, their teader."-Cfr. Bedford Pim, The Negro and Jamaica l London, 1866, p. 641. "W. F. Butler, All Autobiography, New York, 1913, p. 149. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS II Newbell Niles Puckett, it is true, shows that much of the negro folk-lore of our Southern States is due to a European origin. From Master to Slave, we are told. the stories passed, only to be preserved by the latter long after they had been forgotten by the \Vhites.'6 It is further stated concerning the folk-beliefs of the American Negro: "Purely local African lore would be apt to die out since its devotees in America were too few in num- ber and too scattered to provide the constant repetition necessary for remembrance. only African beliefs of an universal na- ture would be likely to survive unless, perchance, many slaves from the same African locality were grouped on a single plan- tation." 17 This last condition was truly verified in Jamaica. The trouble-making Koromantyns, with the Ashanti as their leading spirits, while excluded from most other slave marts. were in great demand in Jamaica. Thus, to give but a single example, Messrs. Coppells, one of the leading slave dealers in Kingston, Jamaica, reported having imported and sold 10.380 slaves from November, 1782, to January, 1788, and that of this number no less than 5,724 were from the Gold Coast, that is, Koromantyns l8 Anancy T ales. Through the folk-lore of a people we may at times trace its origin as well as its contacts with other peoples. The Jamaica Anancy Tales, as has been shown else- where, ,. are clearly of Ashanti origin. They resemble in many ways the Brer Rabbit Stories of Uncle Remus, that are in one form or another common to all the tribes of Africa. However, as the name implies, in the Jamaica folk-lore it is the spider and not the rabbit or hare that forms the central figure, and here we have a strong indication of the source of the stories, as the Ashanti word for spider is ananse. Nay more, while the term is used in the folk-lore of the Gold Coast to-day under a slightly different form, Anansi,'° we find that there the Spider's son is called Kweku Tsin, while among the Ashanti themselves the name is Ntikuma?' Is it a mere coincidence that the same in- dividual is styled Tacooma in the Jamaica "bush"? "Newbell Niles Puckett. Folk Beliefs of the Southern Negro, London, 1926. p. 2. 17 Idem, p. 7. 18 Cfr. Stephen Fuller, Two Reports, London, 1789. p. 22. UI Whisperi1Jgs of the Caribbean, New York, 1925, Cbapter VII. 20 Cfr. Barker and Sinclair, Wut A/r;ca'J Folk-Tales, London, 1917. 21 Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, #175. p. 73. 12 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Incidentally, the Ashanti have a proverb, "No one tells stories to Ntikuma." Captain Rattray explains the meaning, that "as the spider is the fount and origin of all stories, the son, Ntikuma, would be supposed to know every story in the world, having heard them from his father. The saying is used in the sense of 'I know all about that, tell me something I do not know.''' 22 In Jamaica they say: "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you," with precisely the same meaning. In this connection it may be objected that the Jamaica Anancy's wi fe is called Crookie, while the present-day Ashanti speak of her as Konori or Konoro, which would seem to militate against our argument. Let us see! Frank R. Can a makes the statement: "The most probable tradition represents the Ashanti as deri\'ing their origin from bands of fugitives, who in the 16th or 17th century were driven before the f\foslem tribes migrating southward from the countries on the Niger and Sene~al." 23 Now among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria, where Major Tremearne assures us that distinction of sex is rare, the exception is made in favor of the spider-perhaps to mark its superior position, and while the male spider is called Gizzo in their folk-lore, the female is known as Koki. 21 f\light not this imply that the Jamaica Crookie is a survival of the earlier term still in use when the first slaves were dragged from the Ashanti forests? The Jamaica Anancy Stories have been passed Nanas. along in a living tradition by the old Nanas, or creole nurses, who corre pond in many respects to the f\lammies of the Southern States. The word Nana is itself pure Ashanti and means granny. Thus nana-barima, a maternal grandparent; oba-nana, a grandchild. To-day the term Nana has almost disap- peared from common use in Jamaica, and in its place Granny is generally heard in reference to the type formerly called l'\anas. And as Nana was generically applicable to either grandparent or grandchild, so even now granny is used in the same way, and elderly persons speak of any of their offspring beyond their im- mediate children by the general term "him me granny." "Idem, # 183, p. 76. 23 Cfr. Ellc:yciopaedia BriUa"ica. lIth Edition, Vol. H. Article: Ashanti, p. 725· 24 A. J. M. Tremearne, Hausa Superstitions and C1.stoms, London, 1913, p. 32• ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS 13 Again, the Jamaica peasant habitually makes use Fufu Yams. of words eemingly meaningless in themselves, and yet they also are pure Ashanti, and their signification has been preserved in use. To cite only an instance or t\\'o. The staple food of the Ashanti is fufu, which consists of mashed yam or plan- tain. Its derivation is from the word "fu," meaning white. In the Jamaica "bush" a very superior species of white yam is known as fufu yam, and none of the peasants seem to know Sensey F owls. the origin of the term. So too, in the Jamaica l\Iountains, there is a type of fowl with ruffled feathers and half-naked neck, as if it had been partially plucked. They are called sensey fowls, while the Ashanti word for the same kind of bird is Asense'5 \\'e see the same in some of the Proverbs of Proverbs. Jamaica. 2 • Thus for example, "Poor man neber bex (\'exed)," which Gardner explains by saying "he is humble, and cannot afford to take offence," 27 shows its derivation from the Ashanti "Ohiane bo mfuw," rendered by Rattray, "The poor man does not get into a rage." 28 In each case the meaning is the· same, that a poor man cannot afford to take umbrage at those who are better supplied with this world's goods, and on whose charity he may be dependent. When we come to tribal customs, we find the same Funeral Customs. condition of things. And unless we are ready to accept these facts as a verification of the lasting influence which the Ashanti have exercised on the peasant popu- lation of the Island, we must ascribe them to a most extraordi- nary series of coincidences. Thus, for example, a "bush" funeral is almost invariably marked by a peculiar practice. Before start- ing for the burial ground, the coffin is raised and lowered three times. No one can give any real explanation for the act. Nor does local superstition seem to be attached to it. It is always done that way, and that is all there is about it. The very same practice has been in vogue among the Ashanti from prehistoric times. "Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, #6<)7, p. J6<). 26 Note :-Professor Wallis states: "African culture is richly endowed w!th proverbs . .. . The distribution of proverbs suggests that the negro tribes acquired them from the Semitic J>Coples."-Wilson D. Wallis, A,~ /,,- troductiou, to Anthropology, New York, ]926, p. 324- 27 Gardner, History of Jamaica p. 392. 28 Rattray, Asha,lti Proverbs} #630, p. 159. 14 HEB.REWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Captain Rattray thus explains the custom. "The coffin is now closed, and a hole is knocked in the wall; through this the coffin is carried by the asokwafo; on its arrival outside it is placed on the ground, but not without a pretence being first made to set it down twice before it finally comes to rest. The reason for this curious custom is undoubtedly to give Asase Ya (the Earth God- dess) due notice and warning." 20 Then, after a short ceremonial, "The sextons now raise the coffin to carry it away to burial; the same courtesies are paid to the Earth Goddess as when the corpse was set down." 30 So sacred has this custom become, that after the Ashanti had developed into a conquering nation, with the advent of the famous Golden Stool, the symbol of power and national vitality, on the occasion of each enthroning, or rather enstooling, of a new king, the ceremony required that he should feign three times to sit upon the Golden Stool, actually he may not rest upon it, raising and lowering his body three times as it will be raised and lowered after death. 3 ! It is almost as if he were reminded, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." 32 In many other ways also, as the present writer has noted elsewhere,33 practices connected with the Jamaica "bush" funerals indicate their Ashanti origin. Now, as Gardner observes, even to-day in Jama- Hebrewisms in Jamaica. ica the descendants of the old slaves retain a prac- tice "that the room in which a person dies should not be swept or disturbed for nine days. Water and other requi- sites are placed in it and as among the Jews, a light is kept burn- ing during the prescribed period." 34 Gardner, however, is in error, when he positively asserts that this practice is not of African origin. As a matter of fact, Hebrewisms of African de- Hayti. rivation are not confined to Jamaica among the West Indian Islands. Blair Niles in her recent delightful little volume, Black Hayti, speaking of the slaves from Africa, posi- tively asserts: "Some were said to be descendants of Jews mixed 29 R. Sutherland Rattray, Religion and Art in Asha"/i~ Oxford, 1927, p. 160. 30 Idem, p. 161. 81 R. S. Rattray, Asha"tj, Oxford, 1923, p. 82. B2Gen. iii, 19. " Whispcri"gs of the Caribbean, Chapter VIII. U Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. 391. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS IS with negroes. These were tall, well built men whose features had a Caucasian cast and whose language was clearly Semitic in char- acter." .. Dr. Price-Mars, whom she quotes as an authority, also claims a distant Semitic infiltration in the antecedents of some of the San Domingo slaves·· This may seem to us less strange when we read Virgin Islands. the testimony of the Reverend Henry S. \Vhite- head who is speaking "'from information gained at first hand on the ground." \Vhile insisting that the opprobrious term "worthless old Cartegene," current to-day in the Virgin Is- lands is to be traced back to the African Carthage of the Punic Wars, he also remarks: "On the doors of the Negro cabins 'in the country,' i. e. outside the towns, crosses may be seen, much like those the Hebrews made with the blood of the Passover lamb. This is 'to keep out de wolf.' " 3' It is interesting then, to find Sir Harry Johnston Johnston's View. insisting: "The Eiamites of Mesopotamia appear to have been a negroid people with kinky hair, and to have transmitted this racial type to the Jews and Syr- ians," 88 and further noting: "The Jewish hybrids with the Negro in Jamaica and Guiana reproduce most strikingly the As- syrian type." 39 Whatever we may think of this author's claim of a negro element in the ancient Hebrews, his attitude will make less shocking Our present endeavour to show an infiltration of the same Hebrew stock in the evolving of certain distinctively Negro tribes in Africa. It is surprising too, to find a Mississippi Negro Grave Offering. attributing to the Jews the custom so prevalent in West Africa as well as in Jamacia in the slave days, of "putting food and money in the coffin with the dead so that he can eat and buy things when he gets to heaven." 40 81l Blair Niles, Black Hayti, New York, 1926, p. IJ3. 86 Dr. Price-Mars, "Le Sentjmen~ et Ie Phfnomene religieux chez lcs negres de Saint-Domingue,"-Bulletin de /a Societe d'Histoire et de Geogra- phi, d' Hayti, May 1<)25, p. 35 If. "Henry S. Whitehead, "Obi in the Caribbean,"-Th, Ca",,,,o,,,"eal, June, I, 1927, p. 94 f; July 13, 1927, p. 261. 38 Harry H. Johnston, The Negro in the New ~VoTfd, London, 19tO, p. 27. a9 Idem, p. 102. •• Puckett, Folk Beliefs of the Soltthem Negro, p. 102. Note :-A. W. F. Blunt would make this a Canaanitish custom.-Cfr. Israel before Christ Lon- don, 1<)24. p. 23. ' r6 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Bryan Edwards, in his brief outline of the reli- Koromantyn Accompong. gious beliefs of the Koromantyn slaves, asserts: "They believe that Accompong, the God of the heavens, is the creator of all things; a Deity of infinite good- ness." 41 In fact, we have in Jamacia to-day, in the Parish of St. Elizabeth, a Maroon town called Accompong which according to Cundall, the Island Historian, was so called after an Ashanti chief who figured in one of the early rebellions of the Island." One's first impression would be that this chief had arrogated to himself the title of the Deity. But we are assured by J. G. Chris- taller that among the Ashanti the Divine Name was frequently given to a slave in acknowledgement of the help of God enabling the owner to buy the slave." The Supreme Being among the Ashanti is Ashanti Nyankopon. Nyame," whom we shall later try to identify with the Hebrew Yahweh. His primary title is Nyan- kopon, meaning Nyame, alone. great one." Accompong then. appears to be the white man's effort to express the spoken Nyan- kopon as heard from the early slaves. \Vhen the slave trade was at its height, two Witchcraft Negro Nations shared the mastery of West Africa, the Ashanti and the Dahomans. and wherever the slaves of either tribe predominated, there we find the special forms of superstitions and witchcraft which were peculiar to that people. Thus in Cuba, San Domingo, Louisiana, etc. where the Dahomans were in the ascendency, the ophiolatry of Voodoo- Voodooism. ism became prevalent.·o In Jamaica, on the other fl Gardner, History of Jamaica, p. go. 42 Cundall, H istorie Jamaica, p. 325. f3]. G. Christaller, A DictioIJory of the Asante a"d Fallte Language, Basel, 1881, p. 343. O,tyame. 44 Rattray. Asliollti, p. 86. 46 Rattray, Ashaltti Proverbs, #r, p. 19. 46 Note :-Ellis says: "In the southeastern portions of the Ewe territory, however, the python deity is worshipped, and this vodu cult, with its adora- tion of the snake god was carried to Hayti by slaves from Ardra and \Vhydah, where the faith still remains to-day. In 1724 the Dahornies invaded Ardra and subjugated it; three years later Whydah was conquered by the same foe. This period is beyond question that in which Hayti first received the vodu of the Africans. Thousands of Negroes from these serpent-worshiping tribes were at that time sold into slavery, and were carried across the Atlanttc to the western island. They bore with them their cult of the snake. At the same period, Ewe-speaking slaves were taken to Louisiana."-Cfr. A. B. Ellis, "On Vodu-Worship"-Poplliar S.j",ce MOllthly, Vol. XXXVIII (1891), p. 651 If. ASHANTI INFLUENCE 0 JAMAICA CUSTOMS 17 hand, Voodooism is practically unknown," while Obeah with its concomitant poisonings has been ri fe since the earliest days.48 The word Obeah itself is really the Ashanti O beah. Obayi fo, a witch or rather more properly, in practice as least, according to Captain Rattray, a wizard, being de- rived from bayi, sorcery·' Now an Ashanti legend runs as follows. \Vhen Big l\fassa was busy with the "'ork of creation, it happened that the little monkey Efo was making himself generally useful, and when the task \\'a accomplished, he a ked Big Massa, that, in return for the help rendered, all creatures should bear his name. To this Big Massa acceded to such an extent that henceforth certain classes of creatures added to their own proper names the suffix FO, in acknowledgment of the little monkey's part in the work·· Such is the Ashanti fable, and hence we find this suffix FO in the names of peoples, nations and occupations. During the Haytian revolution many planters with their slaves took refuge in Cuba, whence some of them subsequently found their way to New Orleans. The Voodoo cult was thus established both in Cuba and in Louisiana. f7 Note :-Ellis observes: "That the term vodu should survive in Hayti and Louisiana, and not in the British West I ndia Islands. will surprise no one who is acquainted with the history of the slave trade. The tshi-speaking slaves, called Coromantees in the slave-dealers' jargon, and who weTe e.xported from the European forts on the Gold Coast, were not admitted into French and Spanish colonies on account of their disposition to rebel, and consequently they found their way into the British colonies, the only market open to them, while the French and Spanish colonies drew their chief supply from the Ewe-speaking slaves exported from Whydar and Badogry."-Cfr. A. B. Ellis, The Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Sla"e Coast of Wrst Africa, Lon- don, 1890, p. 29 . • 8 Note :-Since the World War, I am told, Voodooism has spread in Jamaica, especially in the Parish of St. Catherine. In my own experience, only once did I find any indication of Voodooism and that was in upper West- moreland in 1913 . .. Rattray, Ashant; Proverbs, #56, p. 48. Note :-According to M. Oldfield Howey, one of the latest writers on the subject: "There are two distinct cults of fetish worship in the West Indies, Voodoo, or Voudou, and Obeah (Tchanga and Wanga) .... But between the Voodoo and the Obeah cults are important differences. In the former the will of the god is communicated only through a priest and priestess; the ritual is carried out at night, and the serpent must be displayed in a cage . ... The Obeah cult requires for its rites only a priest or a priestess, instead of the two, and the presence of the snake is not essential. Its sacrific ial victims too are slain by poison in- stead of meeting a bloody death as in the rites of Voodoo."-Cfr. M. Oldfield Howey, The Encircled Serpent, Philadelphia, 1928, p. 246. As we shall sec later, Howey is probably in error in requiring the serpent even as a con- comitant of Obeah which strictly speaking is in no wise a form of ophiola- try. 110 Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, #78, p. 54. 18 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Dropping this suffix then, from Obayifo, the resultant Obayi, as heard from the lips of the Koromantyn slaves, was variously rendered by the Jamaican Whi tes as obeah, obia, etc. For even now there is no agreement as to the correct spelling of the word. Of Obeah itself we shall have much to say, when we come to the consideration of Ashanti witchcraft and the source from which it was derived. For the present, let it suffice to note, that Jamaica Obeah is really a continuation of the Ashanti sorcery, just as Myalism in the Jamaica "bush" is a residue of the old tribal re- ligious dance of the same African race. Both with the Ashanti themselves and their descendants in Jamaica the word is commonly shortened into Obi. Thus we find the Obi-country referred to in the history of the Ashanti Fetish Priest, Okomfo-Anotchi, that is, Anotchi the priest. About the year I700, after committing a capital offence, as Captain Rattray tells us, he "fled for his life to the Obi country. Here he had made a study of 'fetish' medicine and became the greatest 'fetish' man the Ashanti have ever had." Referring to the Obi country, Rat- tray notes: "I have so far been unable to trace this place,51 but to this day in Ashanti any big fetish priest is called Obi Okomfo, that is, Obi Priest." 52 So also in Jamaica, in the practice of Obeah, the native "makes obi" even to-day. In fact what Cap- tain Rattray witnessed among the Ashanti, e. g. his description of the making of a suman, or fetish charm,"' has its counterpart in the weird incantation and grotesque fabrication of the Jamaica Obeah-man, that produces a bundle of sticks as a protection against thief or evil spirit. &1 Note :-Howey reports: "Among the \Vhydanese is a tribe called Eboes. Shepheard says this is 'a word of the same import as Oboes, which might mean the people or worshippers of Ob, the serpent-god. These people still practice a kind of serpent-warship-they worship the guana, a species of lizard,' "-The reference is to H. Shepheard, Traditions of Eden, London, 1871. Cfr. Howey. The Encircled Serpent, p. 28. Now while not agreeing with Howey as regards the identification of Ob with the serpent-god, as already noted, this citation may throw some light on the question of the Obi- country. Ii2 Rattray, Ashanli, p. 288. Note :-Captain Newland states: "The Magu- zawa, a section of the Hausa. may be found in the north of Togo and Cameroons." He notes that "Maguzawa" signifies "Magician and is a term applied by the Hausa Mohammedans to those of their kin who have re- mained pagans."-Cfr. H. Osman Newland, I-Vest Africa, London, 1922, p. 82. This may possibly be another clue to the Obi-country. &a Rattray. Asltanti, p. 310. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS 19 Moreover, is it merely another coincidence that Duppies and Mmotia. the Jamaica duppies or ghosts are notorious for their stone-throwing propensities, pretty much the same as the Ashanti mmotia who, as A. \V. Cardinali relates, "are pre-eminently mischief-workers, and are said to 'throw stones at one as one passes through the bush ?' " 5' l\lany years ago, Jolm Beecham remarked of the Oratory. Ashanti: "The natives of this part of Africa are remarkable for oratory, and will discourse fluently on a given subject for hours." .5 Any visitor to Jamaica who attends a school entertainment, especially in the country districts, will be impressed by the natural fluency and ease of manner in public appearances, on the part of even the smallest children. "Stage- fright" is positively unknown among them. And as for the peasantry themselves, how "dem do lub to argyfy" either in Court or along the public highway, wherever they can find an audience, however small. Again we are told by Ellis who primarily signifies Songs. Ashanti when he speaks of his Tshi group: "The Tshi songs consist of a recitative with a short chorus. The reci- tative is often improvised, one taking up the song where another is tired. Frequently the words have reference to current events, and it is not uncommon for singers to note the peculiarities of persons who may pass and improvise at their expense." O. Had Ellis been writing of his experiences in Jamaica, and not of those on the Gold Coast, he would scarcely have changed a single word, except the subject of his remarks. 37 This is especially true in the heart of the "bush." .. A. W. Cardinali, III Ashallti m,d B'YOM, Philadelphia. 1927. p. 224. OCi John Beecham, Ashantte and the Gold Coast, London, 18~I, p. 167 . .. A. B. Ellis. The Tshi-Speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa, London. 1887. p. 328. 61 Note :-10 connection with what is known as the Apo Custom, an annual festival among the Ashanti, there is a. lampooning liberty which is thus de- scribed to Captain Rattray Hby the old high-priest of the god Ta Kese at Tekiman."-"You know that everyone has a sun sum (soul) that may get hurt or knocked about or become sick, and so make the body ill. Very often, although there may be other causes, e. g. witchcraft, ill health is caused by the evil and the hate that another has in his head against you. Again, you too may have hatred in your head against another, because of something that person has done to you, and that, too, causes your sunsum to fret and become sick. Our forbears knew this to be the case, and so they ordained a 20 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA Having once established the dominant Ashanti Jamaican Superiority. influence in the formation of the Jamaica peas- antry, it is easy to understand how the Blacks of the Island, if really representative of the higher caste, stand out above their brothers-in-color similarly situated in any other part of the world. After a careful study of his subject, \V. \Valton Encomium of the Ashanti. Claridge does not hesitate in his testimony to the truly remarkable innate ability of the Ashanti, both as individuals and as a Nation, when he says: "Although tradition asserts and other evidence favours the belief that this people and the Fantis and other Twi-speaking races are the off- spring of a common stock, yet the Ashantis stand out in marked contrast to all the others, distinguished as much by their skill and bravery in war as by the patriotism and power of combination that ultimately led to the formation of the most powerful and in fact the only really important kingdom and empire that the Gold Coast has ever seen. From small beginnings these people gradually extended their power and authority, both by diplomacy and by force of arms, until in the end all the surrounding tribes owed allegiance to them and their countries became tributary provinces of Ashanti. Nor can there be the least doubt that that kingdom would, before the close of the nineteenth century. have included the whole Gold Coast, had not the seaboard tribes have been time, once every year, when every man and woman, free man and slave. should have freedom to speak out just what was in their head, to tell their neighbours just what they thought of them and of their actions, and not only their neighbours, but also the king or chief. \Vhen a man has spoken freely thus, he will feel his sun sum cool and quieted, and the sunsum of the other person against whom he has now freely spoken will be quieted also. The King of Ashanti may have killed your children. and you hate him. This had made him ill, and you ill, too; when you are allowed to say before his face what you think, you both benefit. That was why the King of Ashanti in ancient times, when he fell sick, would send for the Queen of Nkoranza to insult him, even though the time for the ceremony had not come round. It made him live longer and did him good."-Cfr. Rattray, Ashan/i, p. 152. Can this ceremony have given rise to the practice still in vogue in Jamaica of "throwing words at the moon?" You may tell the moon the most insult- ing things about a party within his hearing without being liable for libel as you would be if you addressed the same words to your victim or to another person. Thus you in turn may be called "a tief" or "a liar fee true," every word reaching you and those who are standing about, and yet if you ask your vilifier what he is saying, the answer will come: "Not you, sah. Him moon talk." It certainly "cools the sunsum" of the speaker who goes away contented and satisfied, though it must be confessed it has a far different effect on the object of the remarks. I speak from e..xperience. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS 21 asssisted and protected by the Europeans. who feared their Set- tlements and trade might be endangered." 58 A century earlier, Doctor l\Iorse. of the Congregational Church in Charlestown. had already recorded his appreciation of the Ashanti, when he wrote: "To the English officer, who had very considerable opportunities of observation, the Ashantees appear a people decidedly superior to any other inhabitants of the Gold Coast. This superiority consists not only in military skill and valor, but as remarkably in moral feeling and intelligence." 50 The same might well be said of the descendants of Jamaica Peasantry. the Ashanti in Jamaica. For, while you have in various parts of the Island many examples of the other negro types, still there stands out a strong distinctive ele- ment, that gives a tone to the general character of the peasantry, as it has all along left its impress on the folk-lore and super- stitions that connect the entire Black population with their old haunts in Africa. A visitor to Jamaica from the States i immedi- Clean1iness. ately impresssed by the cleanliness of the native peasant in his habits and his fondness for bathing-a striking contrast with our Southern Negro, who too frequently seems to have a horror of water. In the Jamaica costal towns, the entire male population as a rule devotes a great part of every Sunday morning to swimming. so much so. that it frequently interferes with divine service, and even on weekdays, wherever water is plentiful, the morning bath is the rule rather than the exception. In this connection it is interesting to find A. \V. Cardinall writing: "The Ashanti are remarkable for their extreme clean- liness; and they take a pride in themselves, their clothing and their houses, which some of the other tribes do not. and many of the non-African population competely ignore." 00 Bowditch too, had noted the same characteristic of the Ashanti more than a century before: "Both men and women are particularly cleanly in their persons," he wrote of them, and adds that they washed "daily on rising, from head to foot, with warm water and 08 W. Walton Claridge. History of the Cold Coast and Ashollti, London, 1915. Vol. I. p. 181. 69 Jedidiah Morse, Tile Am.erican Universal Geography. Boston, I819, Vol. II, p. 783. "Cardinali, /" Ashanti alld Beyond, p. 48. 22 HEBREWISI\IS OF WEST AFRICA Portuguese soap, using afterwards the vegetable grease or butter, which is a fine cosmetic." 6' Is it a consequence of this use of Portuguese soap that in Jamaica to-day, perhaps no gift is more highly prized, even by the better class of the peasantry, than a cake or two of scented soap? On the occasion of my first Christmas in Jamaica, I was astonished by the number of gifts of soap, which almost seemed a reRection until I became better acquainted with the native customs. To understand properly the spirit and aspirations Conclusion. of the better type of Jamaica peasant then, a close study of the Ashanti themselves became necessary, and this study, in turn, led to some rather startling results and conclusions, that have been incorporated into the following pages. In the first place, many Hebrewisms were discovered in the Ashanti tribal customs. Then, several Ashanti words were found to have a striking resemblance to those of equivalent Hebrew meaning. Finally, the Supreme Being of the Ashanti gave strong indication of being the Yahweh of the Old Testament. The ques- tion naturally rose. how to explain these parallels of cultural traits? Should they be ascribed to mere coincidence--to independ- ent de\'elopment? Or, have we here a remarkable instance of dif- fusion across the entire breadth of Africa? Is it possible to estab- lish even a partial historical contact between the Ashanti of to-day and the Hebrews of fully two thousand years ago, or more? The problem might be approached, either by trying to trace the story of the Dispersion of the Jews, usually called the Diaspora, or by the study of tribal beliefs and practices and the records of early African travellers, particularly of those who had written of the manners and customs of the Negro before the inroads of Is- lam ism had tended to utterly destroy all traditions of the past. It was finally decided to attack the question from both angles. The worldwide diffusion of the Jews was followed in its mani- fold ramifications with a view of establishing every possible in- flux of Hebraic culture that might possibly at any time have reached the shores of Africa. After a general consideration of the Diaspora itself, the first line of investigation led from the Abys- sinian centre of Hebraic influence, that dates back to a more or 61 T. Edward Bowditch, lrfission from Cape Coast Castle to Asl1antee. Lon- don, ,819, p. 318. ASHANTI INFLUENCE ON JAMAICA CUSTOMS 23 less legendary origin, and which eventually built up the dis- tinctiyely Jewish Falashas. Then again, long before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Mediterranean shore of Africa had become lined with inAuen- tial Jewish colonies which undoubtedly were in constant mercan- tile relations with the interior of the Dark Continent. But Egypt especially had been the haven of the refugees from Jerusalem at the time of the Babylonian Captivity, and for many subsequent centuries the Jewish element in the land of the Pharaohs continued to increase and prosper. From all three of these sources, an Hebraic inAuence might well have penetrated to the very heart of Western Africa, espe- cially along the general lines of commerce. It was here that the study of the \Vest African tribes them- selves was undertaken, and every vestige of evidence recorded. It was indeed surpising how many Hebrewisms, either real or at least apparent, were to be found among the unislamised tribes. The present volume is, then, the consequence of eleven years of intensive research, after the preliminary five years spent in Jamaica. It naturally follows along the line of study, with chapters parallel to the steps of the investigation, except that the Hebrew- isms are, for the most part, grouped at the beginning of the work. The argument at best must be a cumulath'e one, and as a single witness may be accused of bias or of being liable to error, quo- tations must necessaril:v be multiplied, even with a danger at times of becoming tedious. The two closing chapters will deal with a general summary and the author's personal deductions. Chapter I THE ASHANTI OF WEST AFRICA Admirers: Captain Newland, in his handbook of practical in- Captain formation intended for the guidance of officials Newland. and others in West Africa, writes: "Of all the Tshi-speaking races, the Ashantis have the most marked charac- teristics. Their skill and bravery in war, their diplomacy, and their singular patriotism and power of combination and organization, not only makes them the most formidable people in the Gold Coast, and the founders of the only important kingdom there, but also enabled them to become masters of the whole country and coast. Such was their ability and adaptabilty, that Lord \Volseley, who led the expedition against them in 187-1-, Lord Wolseley. recorded: 'From the Ashantees I learned one important lesson, namely, that any virile race can become paramount in its own region of the world, if it pos- sesses the courage, the constancy of purpose, and the self-sacrifice to resolve that it will live under a stern system of Spartan mili- tary discipline en forced by one lord, master or king.' "Mr. James Swanzy, as long ago as 1816, in his Swanzy. evidence at the House of Commons, said: 'The Dupuis. Ashantees are the most civil and well-bred people that I have seen in Africa,' and Depuis, the British Consul in Ashanti, 1820, remarked that they professed never to appeal to the sword while a path lay open for negotiations, nor to violate their word, and he stated that their Moslem neighbours corrob- orated this assertion. "Dr. Walton Claridge, also, in his recent His/or), Claridge. of the Gold Coast alld Ashall/i, illustrates from the British wars in Ashanti at the end of the nineteenth century. the forbearance, the warlike skill, and courage of this race, whom 24 THE ASHANTI OF WEST AFRICA 25 he declares to be 'perhaps the most abused and least understood in Africa.' " 1 \Vho then, are these Ashanti who have merited Ashanti such unstinted praise even from those whom they Origin: T heories. have successfully opposed for nearly a hundred years before being finally subjected at the begin- ning of the present century? Without adducing any proof, Andre Arcin posi- F rom E gypt: Arcin. th'ely asserts, in connection with the Arab inva- sion of Africa: "From Ethiopia, Middle Egypt and Central Sudan, descended the Ashanti and the tribes known as Bantu." 2 \Vhether, or not, there is ultimately any foundation for this assertion in the antecedents of the present-day Ashanti, we shall see later. Vice-Admiral Sir John Hay, who cooperated with From the General Wolseley in the campaign of 1874, makes North: Sir J ohn Hay, the following observation: "\V hen the Moslem in- vasion of " 'estern Europe was stemmed, and the Christians reasserted their superiority in Spain, the Moors turned the tide of conquest towards Central A frica, and on the banks of the long mysterious Quorra or Niger established their seat of empire at Timbuctu. They advanced gradually to the Kong Moun- tains, pushing before them the aboriginal race of Central Africa; and having driven them into the low lying countries between the Kong Mountains and the sea, the tide of Mahometan conquest ex- pended itself in establishinO' the kingdom of Gaman. The native t ribes, which occupy the Countries now known as Ashanti and the Protected Territory, seem then to have been known as Ashanti, Fanti, Akim, Assin, Akuama, and Denkera." 3 However, in thus fixing the date of the Ashanti migration from the north, Sir John is evidently in error. The Moorish conquest of Timbuktu took place about the year 1591,' at a time when the Ashanti with- out a doubt had already been well established back of the Gold Coast. George MacDonald, who at one time was the MacDonald. Director of Education for the Gold Coast Colony, 1 Newland, West Africa, p. 94. 2 Andre Arcin, La Guinee Fran,aise, Paris, 1907, p. 169. 8 John Dalrymple Hay, Asha"ti and the Gold Coast, London, 1874, p. 22. 4. Felix Dubois, Tombollctou ta Mysterieuse, Paris, 1897. p. 255. 26 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA also thinks that the Ashanti were driven from the interior by the advancing :Mohammedan tribes, and that they "settled in the countries round the Kong Mountains a district then known to the Arab traders as Wangara." r. That they actually reached their present location Captain Rattray. from the north, there can be but little doubt. Cap- tain l{. Sutherland Rattray, who has spent more than a quarter of a century in Africa, and about twenty years of the time in the West, is without question the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the Ashanti. Great weight, then, must be attached to his statement: "All I can say so far about the origin of the .\shanti is that I feel sure they came from the North or ~orth-\Vest. They do not know this themselves, because all their myths record their origin as being from Ashanti proper." 0 In confirmation of this opinion of Captain Rat- Cardinali. tray, we find A. W. CardinalI reporting of the Northern Territory, that "as a matter of fact, the people here have many traditions concerning the Ashanti." 7 Friedrich Ratzel is also fully in accord with this Ratzel. view, when he observes: "As early as the sixteenth century, came in, it is said, from the Niger, the Intas, a race capa- ble of founding states, who set up in Upper Guinea powerful states, especially Ashantee, which for some time embraced nearly the whole Gold Coast, with country a long way inland .... Ac- cording to their own traditions, the Ashantee are decidedly a race of conquerors; and in the judgment of Europeans they are among the best breeds of Guinea-intelligent, industrious and courage- OllS." 8 From the East: Sir lIarry Johnston, too. is quite positive in his J ohnston. opinion, that, "according to their language rei a- G George MacDonald, The C"ld Coast, Past Dud Presmt, New York, 1898, p. 32. o Personal letter dated Uampon, Ashanti, Oct. S. 1925. Note :-Cfr. also Raymond Leslie Buell, Natiz't" Problems in Africa, New York, 1928, Vol. r, p. 785: "Originally occupying the northern part of what is now the Gold Coast, it is bclic\'ed that the Akan people were gradually driven south by lighter-skinned peoples, and took lIP their abode in the forests which gave them protection against the cavalry attacks of the invaders." The Ashanti, of course, were a component part of the Akan. 7 A. "V. Cardinali, Tltt' Nati7.'CS of tlte Nortlrern Territories of the Gold Coost, London, 1920, p. 22. 8 Friedrich Ratzel, History oj Afankilld, London, 1896, Vol. III, p. 142. THE ASHANTI OF WEST AFRICA 27 tions the Ashanti group of Negroes once came from the Niger north of Yoruba land, in the Borgu country." • Now, as Lieut. Col. Mockler-Ferryman insists: Mockler- Ferryman. "that the Borgus claim relationship with the Bor- nus," JO and the Bornus are located to the south- west of Lake Chad, there is a far-reaching indication of the possi- 9 ~arry H. Johnston, HlStor:J' and Description of the British Empire to" Afrrca, London, 1910, p. 293. Note :-As great stress is going to be placed on the t~stimony of the late Sir Harry Johnston in the course of the present volume, It may be well to record the following appreciation of the man and his work. At the general meeting of the Royal Geographical Society held June 18, 1928, Sir Charles Close in his Presidential Address said: "We have also to deplore the loss, during the past year, of that most accomplished and versatile traveller, explorer, and administrator, Sir Harry Johnston. He be- came a Fellow in 1883. he had been a Member of the Council and a Vice- President and was awarded the Founders Medal for his exploration in Africa in 1904. He died nearly a year ago, on 31 July 1927, in his seventieth year. He had lived a remarkably ful1 life, Not only did he know Africa as few know it, ... but in East Africa, and e\'en more in yasaland, he took a prominent share in establishing the Government of this country. ... In the midst of all this work he found time to write excellent accounts of the coun- tries that he visited .... He was an intrepid explorer, he wrote admirably, he was a musician. and was a deep student of the customs and languages of the natives of Africa."-T/" Geographical Journal, London, Vol. LXXII (1928), p. 97 f. And the New York Times in its editorial of August 2, 1927. entitled "A 'Many-sided Englishman" says: "Sir Harry 1 lamilton Johnston was one of the most accomplished men of his time. He was not only a salient figure in the long line of British explorers, administrators. 'conditores im- perii.' He was a student of architecture and painting, and his pictures of African scenes are said to have merit, though exhibited at the Royal Acad- emy. He was master of some fifteen languages, eleven modern ones, and we don't know how many African dialects. He knew Arabic much better than the late Sir Mark Sykes, that engaging aristocrat who had some reputation as a linguist. He studied comparative anatomy at the Royal College of Sur- geons. He was a Zoologist of note, whose services were recognized by the Zoological Society. To the knowledge of the Aora and fauna as well as the geography of Africa he made important contributions. He was an apt after- dinner speaker, He was a man after Theodore Roosevelt's own heart and a friend of many other famous persons. In his sixties he be¥an that brilliant series or continuations of renowned stories which made hiS name familiar here to a generation which had forgotten the expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro, the protectorates over the Niger delta and the Nyasa region and the grandiose 'Cape to Cairo'-Johnston was the first to usc this phrase-plan, which the British Government allowed Germany to block. His works on Africa are many; some of them too loaded with detail for the easy-going reader to enjoy. But his work in Africa is a monument. He had ruled over enormous regions; had fought 'unofficial' wars, pacified the Niger delta, reorgani7ed the administra- tion of Uganda protectorate. The pompous term 'proconsul' is often applied to men like him. It was as a Vice-Consul or a Consul that Johnston most dis- tinguished himself, though in British Central Africa he was British Commis- sioner and Consul General. It was not his G. C. M. G. or K. C. B. that hon- ored him. We like to think rather of the Medalist of the South Kensington School of Art, the Honorary Life Member of the New York Zoological So- ciety; of the young man who confabulated with Stanley on the Congo and was perhaps the third European of the early 80S to sec that then almost 28 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA ble origin of the Ashanti, that carries u well on our way to the verification of the assertion of Andre Arcin, already quoted, that the Ashanti may trace their descent from distant Egypt." Moreover, P. Amaury Talbot who has spent P. Amaury Talbot. many years in Nigeria, points out that "semi- white invaders appear to have penetrated by way of Borgu and Nupe into the Yoruba country about the eighth or ninth century, and to have supplied the ruling dynasty of these three tribes." 12 Professor Roland B. Dixon of Harvard as we Ethnic Criteria : shall see is of the opinion that the oldest strata Dixon. in Africa are represented by the Mongoloid-that is round-headed (brachycephalic) low-skulled (chamaecephalic) broad-nosed (platyrrhine) and the Proto- Australoid-that is long-headed (dolichocephalic) low-skulled (chamaecephalic) broad-nosed (platyrrhine)-types. '3 Speaking of the latter classification, Professor Dixon calls attention to the fact that this type "appears as a not inconsiderable element in the Abyssinian plateau and among the Ashanti of \Vest Africa." 14 This might imply at least a partial derivation from a common source. He makes the further observation: "If we turn to archae- ological data, it appears that the Proto-Australoid type was by a small margin dominant in Egypt in Pre-Dynastic times and de- fabulous stream above Stanley Poot. It seems curious that the man who in- troduced the okapi to the world also gave us The Gay Dombeys." 10 A. F. Mockler-Ferryman, British Nigeria, London, 1902, p. 144 N. 11 Note :-According to Dr. Hermann Baumann of the Staatliches Museum £Ur Volkerkunde in Berlin, the autochthonous African culture was character- ized by the fact that the woman atone was the worker of the soil. On this native culture was superimposed a high-grade Asiatic civilization which swept f rom the East across the Sudan, leaving a notable impress, for example, in its method of field work by men. The West African civilization, he finds, "assimilated particularly elements of that 'new-Sudanese' culture. which trans- formed above all the real \Vest African culture on the Gold and Slave Coasts and inland as far as Nigeria./I-Cfr.Hermann Baumann, "The Division of Work according to Sex in Africa Hoe Culture,"]oIlN,al of the International Inst itute of African Languages and C"ltures, London, Vol. I (1928), p. 298 ..... Dr. Baumann further concludes that the Ashanti are to be classed with "the strongly Sudanese Yoruba and Nupe" who "follow the Sudanese method of work by the men."-1. c., p. 301. 12 P. Amaury Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, Oxford, 1926, Vol. I , ,P,-R~iand B. Dixon, Racial His/ory of Mall, New York, 1923, p. ISo. U Idem, p. 181. THE ASHANTI OF WEST AFRICA 29 creased largely later except for a temporary rise in the fifth dy- nasty and again in Ptomemaic times." 10 Again, according to Professor Dixon, among the Ashanti the brachycephalic Pigmy type forms less than ten per cent, while more than half belong to what he terms the Proto-Negroid type, that is Dolichocephalic Platyrrhine with high skull, medium broad face and moderate prognathism. \Vhence he concludes that the Ashanti "seem to be quite comparable to the Chad group in the Sudan." 16 It is further his opinion "that the early population of the Guinea-coast region was closely comparable to that of the Congo forest," that is, a Brachycephalic Pigmy type, "and that these have been overlaid by a strong immigration of typical Tegroes," Dolichocephalic Platyrrhine with medium broad faces and moderate prognathism in which the high skulls greatly out- numbered the low skulls. 17 "This Negro immigration," he adds, "was in part a westerly dri ft from the Chad-Nile area, and in part a direct southward movement from the western Sudan and the Sahara borders, forced by the expansion in the Sahara region of the Caspian peoples who have poured into northern A frica since very early times." IS Eugene Pittard, the Anthropologist, basing Pittard. his opinion on documents gathered by Ernest Chantre, formerly Sub-Director to the Societe d'Anthropologie de Lyon, in 1919,19 says of the Ashanti: "The marks of varia- bility indicated by the stature, cephalic index and nasal index, shows us only that the Ashanti do not constitute a pure ethnic group. They appear to be-whatever future studies may show- an aggregate of negro types. They assuredly classi fy as a people of tall stature (height above the medium and tall stature), for the most part dolichocephals or sub-dolichocephals, and platyr- rhine. But naturally, thi s is no more than a very general view. The proportion of short stature, of the brachycephalic and meso- rhinian types, shows us clearly what a degree of heterogeniety this .. Idem, p. 181 f. "Idem, p. 233. 17 Idem, p. 500. 18 Idem, p. 233 f. lIiI Cfr. Ernest Chantrc, "Contribution a )'etude des races humaines de la Guinee, Les Aschantis."-Bulletin, Societe d'Anthropologic de Lym,. 19l9, P·36. 30 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA people manifests." 20 Professor Pittard further expresses the opinion that the Ashanti reached their present location by emigra- tion from the north-east.21 Doctor Haddon, in his turn, remarks: "Although Haddon. dolichocephaly is a characteristic of the Negro, there is undoubtedly a broad-headed strain, the origin of which is obscure. In the third millenium B. c. the majority of the Negroes who came into Nubia were of the short, relatively broad- headed type.. An occasional broadening of the head extends as far west as the Kru and Vei and even among the Ashanti. Among the latter is a distinct proportion of short people, not- withstanding their mean high stature; they are also more downy and there is a tendency to extreme platyrrhiny. The broad-headed type thus extends from the western end to the eastern Sudan right across the continent, but it rarely appears in a pure condition. Its origin is doubtful; possibly it may represent an old migration from southern Arabia, and southward migrations from the cen- tral Sudan zone have broadened the heads of yarious peoples in senral parts of the great Congo area." 22 Later Doctor Haddon adds: "The Ashanti and Fanti (of the Tshi-speaking group) should be regarded as probably a single people migrating coast- ward, part of which, the Ashanti, remained beyond the forest belt on the first terraces of the highlands, while the rest, the Fanti, reached the Gold Coast." 2. Before going into this question more fully, let us Summary of Claridge. quote the following summing up of \Valton Clar- idge: "The records left by Europeans do not com- mence till the latter part of the fourteenth century, and none of them have left any account of any statements that may have been made to them by the people as to their past history. Very little is known, therefore, about the origin of these tribes, and such ac- counts as have been handed down and are current among them at the present time are purely traditionary. The Gold Coast African, however, seldom migrates. He will make long journeys for pur- poses of trade and may stay a\\'ay for years, but he always tends 20 Eugene Pittard, "Contribution a l'Stude Anthropologique des Aschanti,"- L'Allthrop%gie, Paris, Tome XXXV (1925), p. 464. 21 Idem, p. 453. 22 Haddon, Races of il-fan a1ld Their Distribl'tio1JJ New York, 1925. p. 49. 25 Idem, p. SI. THE ASHANTI OF WEST AFRICA 3 I to return to his original home. The Linguists and better-class people, from whom these traditionary accounts of past events are obtained, belong to families which have had their home in one and the same place from time immemorial. Among such a people, tradition has a far greater value than among less settled races, for places and natural objects connected with their past history are constantly before their eyes, and assist in preserving the story from generation to generation. "The general sum of these traditions is that the Fantis, Ashantis, 'vVas awa, and in fact all the Twi-speaking or Akan peoples were originally one tribe. They were a pastoral race and inhabited the open country beyond the forest belt and farther north than Salaga. A northern and lighter skinned people, which is commonly supposed to have been the Fulanis, commenced to encroach on their territory, and being stronger than they, seized their cattle and young women and made many of them slaves. After a time, the Akans began to migrate in small parties into the forest, where they built little villages and lived in hiding. As time went on, the number of these forest-dwelling fugiti,·es in- creased, until, in the course of many years, their numbers became very considerable. Their oppressors then heard of them and made several attempts to conquer and enslave them, but were unable to fight in the dense forest, and, tiring of their want of success, eventually left them unmolested2 ' Living in peace, the people continued to increase, and gradually extended further south until they had populated the forest belt and eventually reached the coast." 25 And again: "It is not known exactly when the Ashanti king- dom was first founded, and the law which makes any mention of the death of a king a capital offence has conduced to the loss of much of its earliest history. From the traditions that are now cur- rent it appears, however, that after the flight of the Akans from the districts that they had formerly occupied and the migration of the Fantis to the coast, the Ashantis remained and settled in the 24 Note :-It has been suggested with much reason that the advance of Islam to the south was in reality checked by the tsetse-flies which destroyed the horses of the intruders. Unaccustomed to fight on foot, the Musl1tman was helpless without his mount.-Cfr. Haardt and Audouin-Dubreuil, The Black Journey, New York, 1927, p. 84. "Claridge, History of Iile Gold Coast and Ashanti, Vol. I, p. 4 f. 32 HEBREWISMS OF WEST AFRICA northern portions of the forest country, where they established several minor kingdoms or principalities, which, though united by a common interest, were nevertheless independent of each other. By 1640 this confederacy had acquired considerable in- fluence and was esteemed a powerful kingdom. \Vith its allies, it was able to put an army of about 60,000 men in the field. They were armed principally with bows and arrows, and their valour and determination in battle soon gave their neighbours good reason to fear them. The seat of government is said to have been established sometimes at Chichiweri, at others at Bekwai or Dom- poasi; but of their earliest rulers or wars nothing definite is now known, although several vague traditions exist. "These traditions point to the Ashanti's first home as having been somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Adansi country- the 'Ananse' O'f Bosman. The first King whose name has been handed down is Chu Mientwi, who was succeeded by Kobina Amamfi. He is said to have reigned about 1600 to 1630. Gold was unknown during his reign, iron being used as currency. It is prob- able that there were at least two other Kings before him." 26 T. Edward Bowditch, who was the first European Contention of Bowditch. to come in close contact with the Ashanti and who subsequently published his impressions, records: "The men are very well made, but not as muscular as the Fantees; their countenances are frequently aquiline. The women are gener- ally handsomer than those of Fantee, but it is only among the higher orclers that beauty is to be founcl. . . . in many instances, regular Grecian features with brilliant eyes set rather obliquely in the head. Beauty in a N egress must be genuine, since complex- ion prejudices instead of imposes, and the European adjudges it to the features only, which appear in the class to be Indian rather than African." 27 Two years later, this same Bowditch sought to es- Scoffed at by Freeman. tablish a connection between the Ashanti and the ancient Egyptians and Abyssinians. Richard Aus- tin Freeman who gives little credence to the suggestion says of this essay or sketch: "I have elsewhere mentioned that when at Kumasi I was strongly reminded of ancient Egypt and its monu- 20 Idem, p. 192. 27 Bowditch, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashanlel', p. 318. '" Gun e a '" l' I c o c A N Seale of Miles 1';10 2