Figure - Nommo

There are many cosmogonic themes in the Dogon myths, reflecting a great deal of knowledge about the Cosmos. Some of them describe the star system of Sirius in a surprisingly precise way. The Dogon believe that Sirius (commonly called Sirius A, in the Dogo-so language Sigi Tolo - star of Sigi) has two companions - Po Tolo, i.e. star of the fonio (cultivated grass of the genus Digitaria characterised by very small grains) and Emme-ya Tolo - star of the female sorghum. According to the Dogon, a planet - the homeland of their ancestors – is near Emme-ya Tolo.The Dogon knowledge of the Cosmos is not limited to the Sirius system. The inhabitants of the Bandiagara Escarpment distinguish stars from planets. The former ones are called tolo and they believe that they are fixed to the sky and never get lost. On the other hand, planets are called tolo tanaze in the Dogo-so language, meaning stars that rotate. The Dogon know such planets as Dana Tolo (Jupiter), Tolo Yazu (Venus), Yapunu Tolo (Mars). The surprising knowledge is the subject of much debate. Many researchers believe that the Dogon astronomical tradition existing only in oral transmission and first written down by anthropologists in the 1940s is the result of contact between the Dogon and educated Europeans. Others claim that this knowledge must have been passed on to the Dogon, directly or indirectly, by representatives of some highly developed civilisation with extensive knowledge in the field of astronomy. It is difficult to settle this dispute, but it is worth noting that the knowledge of the Dogon and their system of thinking is shared by many peoples living in the so-called internal Niger Delta (among others the Bamana and the Bozo).

Ewa Prądzyńska