THE COVER ART
The
colors, shield and ceremonial spears and staff depicted on the front of
the game were inspired from the flag of Swaziland, one of the oldest
monarchies in Africa. The modified staff includes the large
heavy head of the traditional African weapon called a Knobkierie. Dual
symbols of defense and authority, the spear and knobkierie are lying
down, symbolizing peace as on the South African Coat of Arms. The
Gazelle is drawn in a highly stylized way which is very typical African.
UTHINI? - Scroll down to see the meaning of the symbols.
Some
of the following descriptions were sourced from the internet and I
would like to express my sincere thanks to all who have contributed.
Almost every living creature has superstitions, either negative or
positive attached to it.
Three principal factors underlie the
creation of African art. First, art is used to transmit the laws, moral
codes, and history of each group to its young. Among most African
peoples, boys-and in some cases girls-are sent away from their villages
to attend bush schools for varying periods. There they are taught about
the ethics, values, religion, and traditions of their culture that will
enable them to become responsible adult members of their community. The
art form most often used for this instruction is the mask, which may
represent any number of significant figures within the traditions of the
group, including ancestors, powerful spirits, cultural heroes, and
important past or present members of the society.
African masks depict spirit beings, departed ancestors, and invisible
powers of social control. Each mask was made according to a traditional
style, and each was worn by a trained performer. The African masks that
hang on walls of Western art museums, detached from their full-body
costumes, were originally part of whole performance ensembles,
consisting of elaborately costumed dancers, vibrant music, and highly
stylized dances. These complex ceremonial events expressed important
social, religious, and moral values for the whole community. With
careful attention to the masks' artistic and symbolic detail, it is
possible to perceive these same values within the masks themselves.
Figure sculptures are occasionally used for this purpose as well.
Second,
African art serves to facilitate communication between people and
supernatural forces and beings. Objects made to fulfill this function
are chiefly in the form of human or animal figures. They are given their
powers by religious practitioners who are able to make contact with the
spirit world and to work with magic. Sculptures of this nature serve
such essential purposes as warding off disease, natural calamities, and
other evil; bringing fertility to people, animals, or crops; and
rendering difficult judgments. They are frequently rubbed with palm oil
and coated with other potent materials both to imbue them with their
magical powers and to maintain their effectiveness. Certain large
sculptures in this category are invoked to assure the general well-being
of the entire community. Smaller examples are used by individuals to
bring similar benefits to themselves and their families. Art is also
made in Africa to indicate the wealth and status of its owner. Objects
of daily use such as neck rests, stools, cups, boxes, staffs, and pipes
are carefully carved to proclaim the taste and social position of those
who use them. Much of this art is purely decorative, made to be seen and
casually admired by all members of the community. Other examples serve
to signify that their owners have undergone the process of investiture
to become rulers and are therefore entitled to the prerogatives of
leadership.
Art plays an essential role in the lives of the African
peoples and their communities. It serves a much more vital purpose than
merely to beautify the human environment, as art is usually employed in
contemporary Western societies. The beauty of African art is simply an
element of its function, for these objects would not be effective if
they were not aesthetically pleasing. Its beauty and its content thus
combine to make art the vehicle that ensures the survival of traditions,
protects the community and the individual, and tells much of the person
or persons who use it.
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Sculpture/af_sculpt.html
EGYPTIAN ART
The
Ankh is a symbolic representation of both Physical and Eternal life. It
is known as the original cross, which is a powerful symbol that was
first created by Africans in Ancient Egypt.
The Ankh is commonly
known to mean life in the language of Ancient Kemet (land of the Blacks)
renamed Egypt by the Greeks. It is also a symbol for the power to give
and sustain life, the Ankh is typically associated with material things
such as water (which was believed by Egyptians to regenerate life), air,
sun, as well as with the Gods, who are frequently pictured carrying an
Ankh. The Egyptian king is often associated with the Ankh also, either
in possession of an Ankh (providing life to his people) or being given
an Ankh (or stream of Ankhs) by the Gods. This can be seen in the
picture of King Senworsert below who is holding two Ankhs to his chest.
There are numerous examples that have been found that were made from
metal, clay and wood. It is usually worn as an amulet to extent the life
of living and placed on the mummy to energize the resurrected spirit.
The Gods and the Kings are often shown carrying the Ankh to distinguish
them from mere mortals. The Ankh symbolized eternal life and bestowed
immortality on anyone who possessed it. It is believed that life energy
emanating from the Ankh can be absorbed by anyone within a certain
proximity. An Ankh serves as an antenna or conduit for the divine power
of life that permeates the universe. The amulet is a powerful talisman
that provides the wearer with protection from the evil forces of decay
and degeneration.
The loop of the Ankh is held by the Gods. It is
associated with Isis and Osiris in the Early Dynastic Period. The Loop
of the Anhk also represent the feminine discipline or the (Womb), while
the elongated section represent the masculine discipline or the (Penis).
These two sacred units then come together and form life.
The ancient
gods of Egypt are often depicted as carrying ankh signs. We find Anqet,
Ptah, Satet, Sobek, Tefnut, Osiris, Ra, Isis, Hathor, Anibus and many
other gods often holding the ankh sign, along with a scepter, and in
various tomb and temple reliefs, placing it in front of the king's face
to symbolize the breath of eternal life. During the Amarna period, the
ankh sign was depicted being offered to Akhenaten and Nefertiti by the
hands at the end of the rays descending from the sun disk, Aten (See
carving). Therefore, the ankh sign is not only a symbol of worldly life,
but of life in the netherworld. Therefore, we also find the dead being
referred to as ankhu, and a term for a sarcophagus was neb-ankh, meaning
possessor of life.
In
ancient Egypt, cattle were deified and regarded as the earthly
representative of the gods. Egyptian Pharaohs were said to represent two
gods. Horus represented Upper Egypt and Seth represented Lower Egypt.
Horus was the son of Hathor who was depicted as either a cow or a strong
bull. Another Egyptian god that is represented by a bull is the god of
rain, a very important entity to the people of Nabta, considering that
life or death could have been determined by the amount of rain they
received.
Among the Nuer of the Sudan, the most perfect sacrifice
is the most treasured possession a person can acquire—a cow or ox.
Cattle not only have an important economic and utilitarian significance
in Nuer society but they are also of great emotional, psychological,
symbolic, and aesthetic value, hence the equation of all sacrificial
objects with cattle. This is so much the case that, whatever is offered,
be it a sheep, a goat, or a vegetable, it is symbolically regarded as a
cow. Just as the concept of the ancestors permeates Malagasy life, so
that of cattle is all-pervasive in Nuer life. There is cattle poetry,
and there are cattle praise songs, and cattle honorific names, while the
initiation gift and symbol of youth is an ox.
In African
traditional religion the aim of ritual is to explain and control the
workings of the material world. However, there is constant communication
between the spiritual and material worlds, so as to restore the harmony
between them that through human error was lost at the beginning, and
the lack of which explains the precarious and incomplete state of the
present material world.
The Maasai of Tanzania and Kenya have an
expression “God gave us cattle and grass. Without grass there are no
cattle, and without cattle there are no Maasai”. All over Africa cattle
are given in payment of dowry and settlement of conflicts and ones
wealth is measured by the number of cattle you own. The ancient African
strategy game played with cow figures of MORABARABA is very popular. The
game was originally taught to young warriors to teach them on how to
make cattle raids.
Praying Mantis
The
praying mantis has historically been a popular subject of mythology and
folklore. In France, people believed a praying mantis would point a
lost child home. In Arabic and Turkish cultures, a mantis was thought to
point toward Mecca. In Africa, the mantis was thought to brink good
luck to whomever it landed on and even restore life to the dead. The
Bushmen of Southern Africa as a whole, are traditional tribal
religionists and very closed to Christianity. They believe celestial
bodies (sun, moon, morning star, and the southern cross) are symbols of
divinity and the praying mantis is a divine messenger and when one is
seen, diviners try to determine the current message. In the U.S. they
were thought to blind men and kill horses. Europeans believed they were
highly worshipful to god since they always seemed to be praying. In
China, nothing cured bed wetting better than roasted mantis eggs.
See the complete story.
Elephants symbolize wisdom, strength, moderation and eternity.
Elephants
have always been used in African mythology as a symbol of strength,
leadership and greatness. Even today the Venda people often greet
important people as "nda ndou" which literally can be translated as
"good day, elephant".
The rising sun
An
emblem of brightness, splendor and the supreme principle of the nature
of energy, it symbolizes the promise of rebirth, the active faculties
of reflection, knowledge, good judgement and willpower. It is the symbol
of the source of life, of light and the ultimate wholeness of Humanity.
The
Bantu people and many others are united around the sacredness of water,
and I know of no Bantu culture where water does not play a central
role.( This original water symbol around the base of the carving and
also the Uthini? Board symbolizes how water unites us all like a rope
tying us together - Don ) " Bantu" is not an ethnicity but a language
group. Originating in the Nok region of Nigeria probably 2,500 years
ago, the Bantu were never what is dismissively called a "primitive"
culture. Likely by way of Nubia and the Sahel Corridor, presumably
ultimately from Egypt, they spread the working of iron and the beauty
and complexity of their worldview over rather a large section of
Central, South and East Africa from Cameroon to Kenya, from the Cape of
Good Hope to Uganda. There are many Bantu languages and many Bantu
cultures, and at the same time, they make a fairly coherent whole. -
complete text by Michael Ortiz Hill
The
tokiloshe was originally a water sprite and is commonly described as a
brown, hairy dwarf that is invisible to adults. The creature is
mischievious, but only malevolent when controlled by an evil sorcerer.
(we might call him the boogy man). There is a widely held myth in
Southern Africa that says the Africans raise their beds on bricks to
avoid being attacked by the Tokiloshe.
Chameleon - source Myths & Legends of Southern Africa by Penny Miller
The
Koi people and several other African groups share a common story that
makes them despise the chameleon. The chameleon was given the message by
the gods to carry to all man; "As I die, and dying live, so you shall
also die, and dying live". He was so slow that the message was then also
given to a hare. The hare traveled fast and spread the message to the
chiefs who had to accept it. Unfortunately being hare brained he
scrambled it; " As I die and dying perish, in the same manner shall you
die and perish and come wholly to an end" and so from that day mankind
has lived and died.
The Toktokkie beetle – One of the hardiest beetles in Southern Africa. It is known as the Doctor of the {mosimage} road. He is a fertility symbol and always features in the wedding songs of the Xhosa people.
Hyenas
- Myths about hyenas originated from confusion about their sexual
activity. Male and female mate just as other mammals do, but male and
female genitalia are quite similar in appearance. One theory holds that
the female has a large amount of male hormones to increase her
aggressiveness. Whatever the biological reason, the confusion inspired
claims that hyenas could change sex at will. This notion led to
accusations of witchcraft and the belief that witches can turn
themselves into hyenas.
The Nsibidi Unity Symbol in the writing of the Ejagham people of Nigeria
THE ADINKRA SYMBOLS (Willis, "The Adinkra Dictionary")
Originally
designed by "Asante" Craftsment of Ghana, West Africa. The symbols
embody non-verbal communicative and aesthetic values, as well as the way
of life of the people who designed them.
ADINKRAHENE "Chief of the adinkra symbols"
Symbol of greatness, charisma and leadership
It also signifies the importance of playing a leadership role.
GYE NYAME " except for God"
The symbol of the supremacy of God
This
unique and beautiful symbol is ubiquitous in Ghana. It is by far the
most popular for use in decoration, a reflection on the deeply religious
character of the Ghanaian people
DENKYEM "crocodile"
The
symbol of adaptability. The crocodile lives in the water, yet breathes
the air, demonstrating an ability to adapt to circumstances. The Edo
people of Benin City believe that the crocodile symbolizes power. The
king or Oba is able to crush opposition like crocodile crushes its prey.
SANKOFA
" return and get it"
symbol of importance of learning from the past
Sankofa
is the symbol of the wisdom in learning from the past in building for
the future. (It is not a taboo to go back and retrieve what you have
forgotten.)
FUNTUNFUNEFU - DENKYEMFUNEFU
" Siamese crocodiles"
Symbol of democracy and unity
The
Siamese crocodiles share one stomach, yet they fight over food. This
popular symbol is a reminder that infighting and tribalism is harmful to
all who engage in it.
MMUSUYIDEE
" that which removes bad luck" symbol of good furtune and sanctity
NYANSAPO
" wisdom knot"
symbol of wisdom, ingenuity, intelligence and patience
An
especially revered symbol of the Akan, this symbol conveys the idea
that "a wise person has the capacity to choose the best meeans to attain
a goal. Being wise implies broad knowledge, learning and experience,
and the ability to apply such faculties to practical ends."
MATE MASIE
" What I hear, I keep"
symbol of wisdom, knowledge and prudence
The
implied meaning of the phrase "mate masie" is "I understand".
Understanding means wisdom and knowledge, but it also represents the
prudence of taking into consideration what another person has said.
ODO NNYEW FIE KWAN
" Love never loses its way home"
symbol of the power of love
Some Other Symbols
The
star is an ancient symbol of hope for the future. It is also on about
50% of all African National flags, although many due to the influence of
Islam.
The Gorilla called Ngi or Ngui among the Fang and Nji
among the Bulu is the symbol of fire and positive power (the chimpanzee
represents evil).
Birds
In Africa the owl is
associated with witchcraft and sorcery. To the Bantu the owl is the
"familiar of wizards." In eastern Africa, the Swahili "believe that the
owl brings illness to children." Zulus in southern Africa know the owl
as a bird of sorcerers, and in the western part of the continent the
bird is considered a messenger of wizards and witches. And in Madagascar
it is said that owls gather with witches to dance on the graves of the
dead.
To the Edo people of Benin, the bird symbolizes the king's power to overcome false prophets and fortune tellers.
Double-headed
Serpent / Snakes The double-headed serpent reminds the Bamum people of
Cameroon that their king once fought his enemies on two fronts and won.
The Edo people of Benin City believe that snakes consume and destroy
illness.