DOGONS: — THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATION THAT HAD IMMENSE KOWLEDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

Our fetish and curiosity to know what lies in our universe predates the evolution of human civilization. Since ancient times, we have been fascinated with our cosmos and tried to explore the dark and bizarre mysteries surrounding it. Ancient civilizations like the Indian civilization, the Egyptian Civilization, the Greek and Roman civilizations, and the Sumerian and Mesoamerican civilizations all tried to find answers to the mysteries of our universe. The ‘Mayan Calendar’, ‘The Egyptian Pyramids’, The Indian Sacred Texts et all have some sort of deep connection and knowledge about the astronomical sciences and our relationship with the cosmos.

This is perhaps our universe is vast, deep and mysterious. This can be proved by the recent revelations of the ‘James Webb telescope, which unveiled new information about different universes and much more. Scientists, astronomers, astronauts, astrophysicists and the general public have all been dazzled, mystified and stumped by these brilliant revelations.

However, it is believed that there have been other ancient civilizations that have been believed to have much deeper knowledge about our universe and how it works. Today, we are going to discuss one such civilization that is believed to have known about the planets and stars which were discovered very recently astronomers and scientists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The weirdest aspect about the Dogons is that they claim to have direct knowledge about the Sun, the Stars, the Planets and other celestial bodies because of their direct communication with a far more superior civilization which was not of this universe. Can you believe that?

This small ethnic group is said to be situated in the central plateau region of Mali, a West African Nation, and also in Burkina Faso, another African country. According to Census reports, their population strength varies from 400,000–800,000. It is said that the Dogons are indigenous to these regions. Now, according to records, the principal area around which this community is located is known as the ‘Bandiagra Escarpment’, which is a sandstone cliff around 1,600 feet high. There have many legends and oral traditions relating to the origin of the ‘Dogon’ community. Some records say that they migrated to these parts during the medieval expansion. It is also interesting to know that many mysteries surround the Dogon people. Scientists and explorers are still unraveling the many mysteries behind them.

One of the most important mysteries surrounding them and also, in fact, the main theme of this article, is their beliefs and viewpoints on the origin of the cosmos. According to Dogon’s belief, the cosmos was created by their ancient creative god “Amma”. This theory states that the cosmos was created through an ‘Egg’ like structure. Furthermore, it is also believed that the Dogons had “Nommo”, their progenitors, a race that created the Dogons. It is said that the “Nommo” carried a basket to earth filled will all the essentials to start a life there. The baskets contained all the material that would create a Dogon male and female and also would be responsible for creating the constellations, the stars, and the planets for the universe. Such is the belief of this tribe.

However, the most stunning piece of information is that the Dogons possessed incredible and impressive scientific and astronomical knowledge. Interestingly, they were aware of the fact that ‘Sirius’ is a binary star, long before the Western astronomers realized this. Furthermore, they were also aware that ‘Sirius B’ revolved around ‘Sirius A’ in an elliptical orbit over 50 Earth years. That is amazing, isn’t it? The most astounding aspect is that the Dogons knew exactly the position of “Sirius A” within that ellipse. The Western world only came to know about this in 1862. It was also not before 1970; with the help of modern telescopes, this fact was corroborated. The astonishing part is that Dogons knew about this startling bit of information from many hundreds of years ago. That also with the fact that they came into Western contact only at the turn of the century. Also, the Dogons knew that “Sirius B” was heavy despite its size. They also aptly named it “Po Tolo”, where “Tolo” refers to the star, and “Po” refers to a typical cereal which is heavy but small in size. According to astronomers, all this information cannot be discerned without the help of modern equipment; however, it’s amazing that the Dogons knew about this without the aid of any modern equipment or technology. Another mysterious aspect about the Dogons was that they knew that the planet ‘Saturn’ had rings around it and the planet ‘Jupiter’ had four companions. That is about the 4 Moons of the planet ‘Jupiter’. This does not stop here, the Dogons were also aware of the fact that the planets revolve around the Sun and there are four calendars to describe the four seasons.

Also, according to Dogon legend, “Nommo” was a half–amphibian and half-human creature. The weird aspect is that this symbolic representation was also found in Mesopotamian and other cultures across the ancient world. Although, the name given to it in the ‘Mesopotamian’ culture was “OANNES”.

So you can see how an ancient culture gave us knowledge about our cosmos and the creation of the universe. This they believed was due to their interaction with the celestial beings, who they believed visited them to help them in their growth.

Well, the Dogons are now reduced to a small ethnic community in Mali; however, the mysteries surrounding them continue to baffle experts.