| |
 |
| Paper: |
Chasing the Shadow of the Sun: The Batammaliba's Binary System of Time |
| Volume: |
501, Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena VIII |
| Page: |
277 |
| Authors: |
Ségla, D. A. |
| Abstract: |
For the Batammaliba from northern Benin and Togo, the sky is the domain of their Supreme God, commonly called Kuiyé, or Kouyié, and literally translated as “the sun.” They believe Kuiyé is the “sky owner” who communicates through its two sons, the first humans on earth. These two men, originally created by Kuiyé on earth, returned to stay at their father's side in the sky and are said to be responsible for the daily motion of the Supreme God's solar disk, pulling it along the east-west passage. Using foundational archaeology of the Batammaliba's cosmological concepts, we will show how time zone naming and the spatial division in Batammaliba villages allude to Kuiyé's metaphor of original creation in relation to formal and logical reasoning, and how it sheds light on historical memory. We demonstrate that the cosmos has inspired these communities and cultures in a way that is logically reminiscent of human practices in ancient and modern cultural astronomy. |
|
|
|
|
|
