Master of Conferences, Department of History Faculty of Arts & Human Sciences, Dakar, Senegal
Published in the Annals of the Faculty of Human Arts & Sciences, 21, 1991, p.117-139 Translated by Aziz Fall
INTRODUCTION
* ME / wba / = to open, rise of sun
WLF: < uba > to open, rise of sun
The relationships between Pharaonic Egypt and Black Africa constitute a great controversy, which should not surprise us: At the moment when Egyptology was born in 1822 with the great Champollion, colonial ideology, for reasons that we know well, firmly opposed itself to the idea of an "Egypt" belonging to a Negro-African universe. The direction of focus was more voluntarily towards the Tigris and the Euphrates rather than The African Great Lakes in order to retrieve the origins of the Pharaonic Miracle. Entire civilizations were systematically attributed to "Hamites" coming from Asia and losing themselves in the black continent. The rare voices of discordance were greatly covered over by the immense clammer of a crushing majority.
With the near ending of colonialism, the ideological base began jumping with more and more voices denouncing the falsification of history and the reclaim for Africa of its own " Histoire sur Place "1 , Unesco takes the charge as a response and decides on the publication of a general history of Africa (1964).
ME / Dd / = djed pillar, stable, enduring, truth WLF: < Jaad > = stable, enduring, functioning, upright, fair, channel, take path, true
1 But not in the manner of Bernard Lugan (french Africanist), who, just until recently lauded the old racist theses that for prevailed for a long time and, according to him, render a better account of African History. Histoire sur Place B. Lugan. Title literally means" History on site." Translates loosely into "On the scene History."
1
It is in the course of one of the many meetings of experts in lieu of the finalizing of this project - that of the Cairo Colloquium of 1974 on the peopling of Egypt and the decipherment of Meroitic script - that Egypt finally reintegrates into its African cradle and that the paleoAfrican origins of its civilization are recognized.
However the problem is but only half solved, and deep divergences subsist around discussions about the relationships between Ancient Egypt and modern Black African civilizations. For most western specialists, migrations that supposedly came from The Nile Valley by those who are considered Black Africans today, and confirm a nilotic origin, especially Egyptian, is highly doubtful in the actual state of research2 The most extremist among them believe that what this view actually is, on behalf of the large majority that subscribe to it, is a forced search for glorious roots or a type of 'nigger gobinism' that they too often rejoice in denouncing.3 As for the African specialists, they believe that to refuse the existence of these migrations is simply to deprive oneself of the only rational explanation for the peopling of the continent, its cultural unity, and for reasons that are purely ideological : only influences can be accepted, maybe even reciprocal influences between Egypt and the rest of Africa, but not as of yet, a direct origin of actual Black African civilizations springing forth from this glorious Pharaonic civilization. Thus, is swiftly resumed the debate surrounding the relations between Ancient Egypt and Black Africa.
Yet, from the very start of the century a Senegalese, by the name of Yoro Dyâo, had given capital enlightenment on the very subject, a subject that has unfortunately until now been unknown by the principal protagonists.
ME / tpy / = being upon, principal, first, high priest WLF: < tabbi > = land upon, be upon, open
1. YORO DYAO & HIS CONTRIBUTIONS
Who is Yoro Dyao ? He was born in Xumma in the Waalo4 around 1847. He seems to have died in that very same location on April 3rd, 1919. His father, Fara Penda, belonged to the nobility of the Waalo. This afforded Yoro Dyao the ability to attend "L'ecole des Otages" (literally school of the hostages) founded by Faidherbe (governor of Senegal from 1854 to 1861 and from 1863 to 1865) in Saint-Louis, in 1855, in order to guarantee the obeisance of the Indigenous Chiefs. He will stay there in St. Louis from 1856 to 1860. Promoted to Canton Chief (a regional administration), he exercised power in Xumma and at Foos. After a very busy carrier, Yoro Dyâo obtains a retirement pension from France amounting to (1.200 f)
2 On this topic see J. LECLANT, <<afrika>>, Lexikon der Agyptologie, 1, 1, col. 85-94 : as well as Pharaonic Egypt and Africa. 3 See mainly L.V THOMAS, Time, Myth and History in West Africa, p. 42-44, 54-55 ; R. MAUN, The accounts of Cheikh Anta Diop,
Nations Negres et Cultures et de << The intellectuals must study the past...>> 4 Waalo : Traditional region of Senegal seated a bit here and there over the Senegal River heading towards the sea to Dagana
2
It is not so much the cursus honorum of our character that interests us, in light of it however, what we will retain from his biography is the fact that he belonged to the nobility of his region of birth and that he was a great admirer and loyal servant of France. It is in this triple quality that he decides to write the history of the Wolof people for his French friends. In doing so however, he begins telling the history of the Senegambia; inevitably, the history itself being a byproduct of the interweaving of the local populations.
This work was actually edited after the death of Yoro Dyao by R. Rousseau, a professor of the Lycée Faidherbe (today Lycée Cheikh Omar Foutiyou Tall) of Saint-Louis, under the title << Cahiers de Yoro Dyâo . >>5 Another study by our character - the one that interests us the most - was published by Maurice Delafosse and Henri Gaden, sometime before the death of the author in their book " Chronicles of the Senegalese Fouta" , where it occupies the 5th chapter. The works of Yoro Dyâo are to researchers, of a very particular significance. Member of the nobility and Canton Chief, he was very well placed to have full access to the Oral Histories: princely families and the grand griots of the Royal court played a key role in the conservation and transmission of tradition in all of its aspects. An otherwise cultured man, frequenting the Africanists of his time and reading their books 6, Yoro had the advantage, though rare at the time, to be able to contrast the data received from tradition to that held by foreign observers who were the European specialists. R. Rousseau who published his " Cahiers de (Books of..) Yoro Dyao", thinks that he might had been influenced by colonial publications that featured in "Le Moniteur du Senegal", but also and especially the works of the Africanist Berenger Feraud.7
ME / baq / = fortunate WLF: < bàkk > = praise/brag for self, or for ancestors
So what about the quality of the data furnished by Yoro Dyao ? The judgment of R. Rousseau, who, as we have stated, published the << Cahiers. . >> is generally favorable, except on that which deals with the Egyptian Origin of the people of Senegal. This is what he said about it : " Certain of his affirmations seem to be reminiscences and from the following, argument cannot help but to ensue "
ME / Xnn / = disturb, interfere w/ persons' commands, to confound
WLF: < xàñ > = deprive, keep info from, impede progress
5 For the biography of Yoro Dyao, cf. R. ROUSSEAU, <<The Senegal of aforetime, A Study on the Waalo...>> p. 133-138 ; as to his unravelings with Sidia Leon DIop, son of Ndate Yalla and Prince inheritor of the Waalo, for the political direction of the province, see Mansour AW, << Sidia Leon Diop, a real Senegalese Prince. >> p. 45-50.
6 See R. ROUSSEAU, ibid., p. 137 and the 1s t note on the same page. 7 7. Cf. R. ROUSSEAU., ibid.
3
Here, Rousseau specifies his opinion by an impassable note which states : " for example what he says many times about the Egyptian origins of the inhabitants of Senegal. "8 Concerning the same question M. Delafosse and H. Gaden, who published his work titled << The
Six Migrations Out of Egypt to which the Senegambia Owes its Peopling >> , were first to state in their notes << The text that was given to M. Gaden by Yoro Dyâo, who wrote it himself ; this latter is the only responsible of the opinions and interpretations that are hereby expressed. It will be noted that only slight modifications destined to render the text more comprehensible were made. >>9
We can say now that R. Rousseau did nothing but conform to the reserve already implicit of his illustrious predecessors. To be fair, let us recognize before going any further that R. Rousseau had by later times largely loosened his reserve : he did his second study on the Cayor, attempting to correlate the tradition as presented by Yoro on the Egyptian origin of the peoples of Senegal with his own data.10 The skepticism expressed by Delafosse, Gaden and Rousseau on behalf of the opinions of Yoro Dyâo on the Ancient Egyptian origins of the Senegalese people; was it legitimate ? We think that the criticism by Rousseau is not sufficiently founded, by the measure of his statement that << certain of his affirmations seem to be reminiscences. . >>suggesting that one should reject them and not lend faith to the data. To the contrary, the fact that some arguments were founded on " reminiscences ', which mean elements that are vague and confused, coming even perhaps from the 'unconscious' mind, should actually have pushed Rousseau to be more skeptical. In fact, Yoro Dyao apparently was never overly exposed to excessive exterior influence, neither did he invent the story. What we are dealing with is far from ' reminiscence ' and we will see this further on. Yoro Dyao gives concrete facts that are convincing for those knowing how to interpret them appropriately. As for Delafosse, his Haut-Senegal-Niger dates from 1912 and he doesn't totally reject the suggested Egyptian origin, say oriental, of certain populations in the Senegambia. As bares witness his famous Judeo-Syrian theory on the Peuls.11
ME / HH / = fight the force ? Break the force ? -of a wave in a wreck ? WLF: < HH > = to fight, struggle, contest, oppose
8 Cf. ROUSSEAU, ibid., p. 138 and the 1s t note of the same page. 9 See M. DELAFOSSE and H. GADEN, Chronique du Fouta Senegalais <<Chronicles of the Senegalese Fouta>>, p. 123. 10 Cf. R. ROUSSEAU, << Le Senegal d'Autrefois. Seconde etude sur le Cayor...>> p. 136-144. 11 See M. DELAFOSSE, Haut-Senegal-Niger, vol. I, p. 198-237.
4
What truly gives value to the attestations of Yoro Dyâo on the Egyptian Origin of the
Senegalese people is that it rests upon an oral tradition that is very widely spread << .. The
general opinion in all of Senegambia being that our country owes its peopling to migrations out of
12 Egypt, from which descend all of its population . >>
Said otherwise, Yoro Dyao did nothing but relay a fact that was of public notoriety. We thus can not accuse him of attempting to singularize or to take his own desires for reality, and even less suggest he was just searching for glorious roots, unless this oral tradition is a fantasy collectively shared by all of the different groups peopling the Senegambia at that time. Let us say right away that such a thing is highly improbable. The value of Yoro's thesis on the Egyptian Origin of the People of Senegal rests also on the fact that it was confirmed, much later, by another Senegalese who, in all ignorance of the works of Yoro, still came to the same essential conclusions as him by different methods. We are speaking of none other than Cheikh Anta Diop. Here we take note of the issue of objectivity and pertinence of his critics, who (some) had gone so far as to put in doubt the mental equilibrium of this genius Senegalese scholar.13 Yet, let us examine the interesting contribution of Yoro Dyâo.
2. THE EGYPTIAN ORIGIN OF THE SENEGAMBIAN POPULATIONS
The Thesis of Yoro Dyao is contained in a study that is specially consecrated to this question and published well before his death by M. Delafosse and H. Gaden just as in his << Cahiers. . >> , that R. Rousseau had scattered throughout the principal regions of Greater Jolof. Yoro Dyâo identifies, in the same manner as stated in the title, six great migrations that left from Egypt to wind up in the Senegambia. We will examine them all, but in contenting ourselves by only analyzing the most important passages to our topic, especially those details that are to us of real interest.
It is with the Jaa-Oogo (Diaogo) that the text begins, this group would then be the more ancient one. Here is what says Yoro Dyâo :
« ... c'est cette migration qui aurait apporté avec elle dans le pays l'industrie métallurgique. Les forgerons donnentauferobtenudansleursfourneauxlenomdehogo1 4 .Sil'onremarquequecemotfaitpartiede « Dyahogo », on ne peut manquer de voir là un argument en faveur de la véracité de la tradition. Les gens de cette migration étaient armés de sagaies, sabres, poignards et couteaux en fer ; ceux des grandes familles avaient des armures complètes de ce métal. C'est également cette migration qui aurait inauguré la culture du gros mil dans les terrains d'inondation du Fleuve Sénégal. On dit que le roi d'Egypte sous lequel eut lieu cette migration se nommait Paté Lamine. Ces deux noms réunis ou pris isolément sont d'un emploi fréquent chez les Sossé (Mandingues), les Malinké, les Peuls, les Khassonké, lesSarakhollé;ilssontd'unemploimoinsfréquentenpaysOuolof1 5 . ».
ME / nai / = traverse, travel; waterway, convey someone, open field, run away, swim away, conquer ? WLF: /< ñai > = traverse, travel, get away, convey, open field
12 Cf. R. ROUSSEAU, <<Le Senegal d'autrefois. Etude sur le Oualo...>>, p. 169-170 13 Il a agit de celles de Louis-Vincent THOMAS exprimees dans l'article cite plus haut.
5
<< ... it is this migration that would have brought with it the industry of metallurgy. The Blacksmiths give the name "Hogo" to metal once it is obtained.14 If we notice that the word "Hogo" is part of the word << Dya Hogo >>, we can not miss seeing an argument in favor of the veracity of Tradition. The people of this migration were armed with assegais, sabres, daggers and knives made in metal ; those of the great families had armor made completely out of this metal. It is equally this migration which inaugurated the culture of "le gros mil" (sorghum) in the areas prone to flooding in The Senegal River. They say that the King of Egypt under which this migration took place was called "Pate Lamine". These two words together or taken individually are of frequent use among the Sossé (mandingues), the Malinké, the Peuls(Fulani), the Khassonké, and the Sarakhollé ; they are of less frequent usage in Wolof country .15>>
What to think of these elements furnished by Yoro Dyâo ? The origins of the Jaa Oogo is a controversial fact. Certain specialists are for an autochthonous origin while others lean more so towards an exterior origin.16 Hamady Bocoum, who devoted a third cycle thesis on the issue of metallurgie in Senegal (who has then studied the question up close) does not accord much significance to this controversy, but the archeological facts that he presents show that "the proof of an on site invention of iron metallurgy"17 are not yet identified anywhere in Senegal. Besides, Tradition leaves no room for doubt as to the introduction of iron metallurgy in the Valley of the Senegal River by the Jaa Oogo. It must be duly noted that all Senegambian Blacksmiths trace their origins, one way or another, to the valley of the Senegal River, thus to the Jaa Hogo, their descendants or those who initiated them.18 Under these conditions, we must without a doubt, lend faith to what is said by Yoro Dyao concerning the origins of the Jaa Oogo, furthermore, in a passage of his << cahiers. . >> devoted to the 'Ñoole,' he gives two facts that would be extremely difficult for him to have "made up" - and to which we shall return - facts that prove that it is on a evidentiary basis that Yoro relays to us this opinion.
ME / Ds / = blade, knife, dagger; to sharpen blade WLF: < Jaasi > = blade, dagger (daas) to sharpen
14 In reality, Oogo in pulaar of Fuuta-Tooro (region situated in the middle valley of the Senegal river).
15 Cf. Yoro DYAO, << Les six migrations...>>, p. 126. (the six migrations...)
16 On this controversy see H. BOCOUM, << La metallurgie au Senegal..(metallurgy in Senegal...), p. 274-276.
17 Cf. H. BOCOUM, ibid., p. 280.
18 Voir H BOCOUM, ibid, p. 289-292, but also Mamadou Diouf, << Le probleme des castes dans la societe wolof >>, (the caste problem in Wolof society) Revue Senegalaise d'Histoire, vol. I, #2, Jan-June 1981, p. 25-37
6
Yoro Dyâo will go as far as to give us the name of the Pharaoh under which the Jaa Oogo took the path of exile : it is Paate - Lamin ; and he tells us that the elements that make up this name are frequent amongst the Soosé, the Malinké, the Peuls, the Xasonké, and the Sarakhollé . This name, however, appears too modern for our venerable Pharaohs, and without doubt may bring a smile to the face of any western Egyptologist ; with good reason surely, given its absence from the official Kings' Lists.
Yet, if we take a closer look, from a phonetic standpoint, Paate-Lamin could very well be Ptolemy. We know that the dynasty of the Lagides, that reigned over Egypt from 305 to 30 BC, held this name; the very name of its founder. It must be reminded to the reader, that in his introduction, Yoro Dyâo explains migrations caused by vexations from the Pharaohs at the location of these populations. All the while, we know in fact that the Lagides ran very repressive politics against the indigenous people.19 However, it is not the only possible comparison. We can try to find an Egyptian name that satisfies the following conditions:
- 1) Be approximately close to the phonetics of Paate-Lamin
- 2) Be the name of a Pharaoh
- 3) This Pharaoh should belong to a period of great weakening of the Egyptian civilization, more precisely one
that sees the intervention of foreign forces such as the Assyrian or Persian armies. It is this that logically, reunites the maximum objective reasons to support a massive migration.
In Egyptian, the composite name that seemed to us to be the closest to Paate-Lamin is Padiimen << the one given by Amun >> . The first part of this name, "Padi", has rendered the greek " Πετης ; " the entire cluster finds itself in the language in the form of "Πετεαμουνις. "20 The most interesting personnage that we have found according to the above criteria, is a certain " Peteamon' (transcribed by Egyptologists as P3-di-Imn) who, without being Pharaoh, was still close to the crown as he has been identified as a princely figure, (perhaps co-regent)21 and Great Overseer of Royal Livestock. This important figure was the son in law to the sister of Nectanebo and lived in the XXXth Dynasty, or more precisely around the year of 380 before Christ. It shouldn't need to be stated that Padiimen can very well give rise to Paate-Lamin, the proximity of sounds is close enough that it should not be a surprise. Despite all the above, it is hard for scholars to identify Paate-Lamin with Ptolemy or Peteamon, who are posterior to the Persian kings.
ME / rn / = name, to name
WLF : < rañé > = recognize 19 It is what leaves to be supposed the economic exploitation of the country; cf. C. PREAUX, L'economie royale des Lagides,
Bruxelles, ed. Of the Queen Elizabeth Egyptological Foundation, 1936. 20 Voir H. RANKE, Die Agyptischen Personennamen
21 For this personnage, see H. GAUTHIER, Le Livre des Rois d'Egypte (The Book of the Kings of Egypt).., IV, p. 192 ; for the sense of /rpA/, see for example C. LALOUETTE, L'Empire des Ramses, p. 175 ; J. YOYOTTE, Les principautes du Delta.., p. 130
7
To this effect, in a part of the text concerning the Manna, Yoro Dyâo gives another name of a Pharaoh that the identification seems more certain. It traces back to the Persian domination of Egypt, taking in account Egyptian Chronology, it would then predate the Ptolemies and Peteamon. Yet, it is under this Pharaoh that the 2nd migration takes place. Said otherwise, being that the Jaa Oogo is first, it is logically impossible that the reigning sovereign would be Ptolemy or Peteamon who are posterior to the Persians.
This difficulty could be lifted if we could admit that there could have been an Egyptian Pharaoh whose name resembles Paate-Lamine, and is anterior to the Persian kings but whose name, in the Egyptian documents for one reason or another, have passed over in silence, which would not be surprising given that the culture of name obliteration from the collective memory is a very Egyptian practice.22 It could also be surmounted if we supposed that Yoro Dyao inverted the names of the Pharaohs related to the migrations of the Jaa Oogo and Manna ; which wouldn't be a surprise either, given some of the inherent issues of oral tradition.
If Paate Lamin theoretically corresponds to an Egyptian name, as we see it, the identification brought by Yoro poses a real problem. However having established and provided his data despite unlikely correlations is without doubt a great victory on the behalf of Yoro Dyao. The indication that it is the Jaa Oogoo from Egypt that had introduced the culture of "gros mil" in the valley of the Senegal River (which proves that they were also agriculturalists) is without doubt less problematic. In fact, the striking similarities between the agricultural instruments of the Ancient Egyptian and the populations of the region of the Senegal River Valley can only be explained by belonging to a same cultural base, that all clues situate in the Nile Valley. In the same order of ideas, the rise of the state in the Senegal River Valley is attributed to the metallurgy and iron work of the Jaa-Oogo, that otherwise inaugurated the 1st Dynasty in the region. Should it be recalled, for the Dogon, who have so many similarities with the Ancient Egyptians, the civilizing Hero is the blacksmith23 and in Egypt precisely was the chief metallurgist, the nTr Ptah, who symbolically opens the royal list of Pharaohs?24
ME / ftt / = obliterate inscriptions ME / ft / = show dislike
WLF: < fatt > = 1 block the cracks, patch, fill in, plug, obstruct 2 bother, disturb someone WLF:< fatté > = forget WLF: < faat > = kill
22 Thutmosis III did everything to erase the name of Hatshepsut from Egyptian monuments.
23 Cf. M. GRIAULE, Dieu d'eau..., (God of Water) p. 37-43, 78-43, 78-82, but also G. CALAME-GRIAULE, Dogon Dictionnary ( Toro Dialect), Language and Civilization, Paris, Klincksieck, 1968, p. 130 : << In myth, the blacksmith plays the role of a civilizational hero. It was him who brought grain to man : without the tools of the creator, agriculture is indeed impossible. >>
24 See H. and VELDE, << Ptah >>, Lexikon der Agyptologie, vol. VI, col. 1 177-1180. 8
We know that Ptah is both at the same time a metallurgist and creator : /pth/ means <<to forge, to form>> and <<to create, to build>> in Ancient Egyptian. Whereas in West Africa we have an identical conception of the Blacksmith :
- - Pulaar : tag = to create
- - taf = to forge (metal)
- - Wolof : tax25 = to be at the origin of, create
- - Teggue = forge, blacksmith
- - Soninke: tage = blacksmith
these are the different indications that show that the thesis of a Dya Oogo migration departing from Egypt is far from a figment of the imagination. Let us now see what is of the following migration: that of the Manna.
« Cette migration, beaucoup plus nombreuse que la précédente, et ainsi nommée d'après son chef Manna, vient du désert s'établir sur les bords du Sénégal. Son arrivée fut le signal de la déchéance des galo. Elle s'empara du pouvoir. Elle peupla les vastes contrées du Foûta qu'elle trouva désert et ses chefs portèrent le titre de Fari, qui est le vrai titre d'Empereur, en Wolof et en Peul....La dynastie des Fari dura plus de 300 ans. Sossé Touré était le nom du Roi d'Egypte dont les vexations furent cause de cette migration.2 6 »
<< This migration, much more numerous than the preceding one, is thus named after its Chief leader <Manna,> it came from the desert and established itself on the borders of The Senegal River. Its arrival signaled the great decline of the Galos. It took control of the political power. It peopled the vast country of the Fouta which it found unpopulated, and its leaders bore the title < Fari >, which is the true title for Emperor, in Wolof and in Peul....The Dynasty of the Fari lasted 300 years. Sossé Touré was the name of the King of Egypt whose vexations were the cause of this Migration.26 >>
ME / Dar / = search out, investigate, seek, probe, wound, plan work, take thought for WLF:< jaar > = search out, take a path, seek, a wound, hole, guide.
25 The /x/ has a phonetic value of the french /kh/ in the national languages of senegal. 26 Cf. Y. DYAO, << Les six migrations...>>, p 126-127.
9
Just as the Jaa Oogo, the << Manna >> hailed from Egypt, but the precisions given by Yoro Dyâo are more significant in this part of the text. In fact, we know that this migration came from the desert, that the title held by the leaders in power is " Fari ", and finally the motive of departure, it was the vexations from a Pharaoh by the name of Soose-Ture.
Let us examine the values of these elements under the light of what we already know of the Ancient Egyptian civilization and that of the Senegal River Valley. Let us start with the origin that YoroDyaoattributestothe << Manna> >.Notmuchtosayaboutthoseassertions,asidefromtheir perfect conformity with the indications provided by Tradition and archeology. The works of Oumar Kane amply support the writings of Yoro Dyao.27
When it comes to the title of Fari that the Manna would have been the first to have held, it is impossible to confirm or deny this part of Yoro Dyâo's Thesis. However, he was right to state it as the title for Emperor, and not just only for the Wolof and the Fula speaking people in all of West Africa. The term is so familiar that it is difficult to know which population transmitted it to the other. We know, in support of what has been written by Yoro Dyâo, that the Wolof use the term Buur to designate the king, and use Buur Fari as a term to designate the King of Kings.28 We also know that all the praise givers and lauders of the subregion that solicited the greatness of some Fara's started in this manner:
Fari, Fari yoo, Fari yeddaakee (yeddetaake)... Meaning.. << Emperor, O Emperor, One never contradicts an Emperor...?>>
We must here insist on this internal element that renders Yoro Dyâo's thesis very credible : "Fari" is in fact probably an evolution of /Pr Aa/ which, in the Egyptian language, originally designated the domicile of the sovereign before being applied to the sovereign King himself by way of metonymy. If we also know that buur ( << king >> in Wolof) comes from /pr wr/ or /bw wr/ (chief, the great one in Ancient Egyptian), in the same way that << bammeel >> (tomb in Wolof) would have came from /p3 mr/ << the pyramid >> (in Ancient Egyptian)29, thus the origin of the " Manna " becomes a very serious thesis. Other internal elements confirm this point of view. " Manna " actually evokes a common name in Ancient Egyptian : a great figure of the New Kingdom indeed carried the name Menna .30 Even Soosé-Tuuré, when broken into two words can be compared to Egyptian names: /ssy/31, an Egyptian name that could very well vocalise the sounds contained in Soosé, and /twri/32 could also easily put us in the mind state of hearing Tuuré.
27 See O. Kane, le Fuuta-Tooro des Satigi aux Almaami..., T. I, p. 38-48. 28 See C. A. DIOP, Civilization or Barbarism, p.214. 29 Voir C.A. DIOP, Civilization or Barbarism, p. 214 ; Nouvelles Recherches (New Research) p. 139. 30 Voir A. H. Gardiner et A. E. P. WEIGALL, Topographical Catalogue..., p. 22. N. 69; H. RANKE, Die Agyptischen 31 Cf. W. WRESZINSKI, << Noch einmal...>>, p. 144 ; H. RANKE, Die Agyptischen Personennamen, I, p.320, note 11. 32 Voir H. GAUTHIER, <<Les fils royaux de Kouch...>>, p. 179-238.
10
Yet and still, the most judicious comparison for Soosé-Tuuré, this time the entire name compared, would have to do with the first two kings of the Persian Dynasty, Cambyses and Darius. In fact, the name of the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt of these two soveriegns are the following: mswt-Ra (Messout Ra- E.S.) and stwt-ra (Setoot Ra - E.S.) .33
From the historic standpoint, the two names can suffice, for the fact that Yoro Dyâo speaks of " vexations ." In that effect, the Persian kings were definitely guilty: destruction by fire of the mummy of Amasis, violation of the temples and of the burial grounds at Memphis, execution of 2000 Egyptian youths, execution of the Apis, etc.34 ... George Posener, who devoted an entire
study on the Persian domination, is obliged to recognize these historical facts stating: << The 35
Egyptian populations traversed a painful era >> in the beginning of the invasion of their country. Even Nicolas Grimal, who is truly a champion of the Persian sovereigns, recognizes that the satrape, Ariadne, was executed by the orders of the Grand King because of his lack of regard towards the Egyptian customary sites (among other reasons).36 It is under the pen of Grimal that we discover the following lines :
33 For these two names, see H. GAUTHIER, Le livre des rois d'Egypte..., vol. 4, p. 138 and 148. See also, G. POSENER, La premiere domination perse.., p. 161-191. (the 1st Persian domination...,)
34 See HERODOTUS, Histories, III, 14-37 ; STRABON, Geographie , XVII, 1, 27. 35 Cf. G. POSENER, La premiere domination perse..., p. 169
36 « Cambyse est bien accueilli par des minorités comme celle de la communauté juive d'Eléphantine ainsi que par certains membres de l'aristocratie égyptienne. Il est même fortement probable que le sac des villes d'Egypte et en particulier de Thèbes que rapportent les sources grecques n'a jamais eu lieu. En tout cas, il n'a certainement pas eu l'ampleur que lui prêtent ces textes, fortement influencés par la propagande antiperse... L'enterrement solennel d'un Apis en l'an 6 de Cambyse contredit également la tradition d'impiété que les sources postérieures prêtent au souverain achéménide. Si l'on en croit Hérodote, Ctésias et surtout le "Roman de Cambyse" ou la chronique de Jean Nikiou (...) qui sont nos principales sources sur la période, Cambyse se serait conduit avec la dernière des sauvageries, assassinant l'Apis à Memphis. Il aurait également procédé à des déportations massives d'opposants, etc. Ces textes ne font que transcrire le fonds de propagande nationaliste qui se développe moins sous la domination perse que plus tard : lorsque les Grecs vainqueurs des Perses et nouveaux maîtres du pays entretiennent soigneusement cette autre forme de damnatio memoriae de leurs anciens rivaux. » Nicolas GRIMAL, Histoire de l'Egypte ancienne, p. 441-443. Ce que Grimal tente – vainement du reste – de nier aussi bien pour Cambyse que pour les autres souverains perses, n'est pourtant qu'une attitude normale en période de guerre : ravager les villes, profaner des lieux de culte, persécuter l'ennemi, etc., font partie des actes de guerre que les Egyptiens eux-mêmes ont commis contre leurs ennemis ; on ne peut donc raisonnablement tout mettre sur le compte de la propagande, qu'elle soit nationaliste ou grecque. Le passage que nous avons cité dans le corps de notre texte le prouve d'ailleurs.>> <<Cambyses was well accepted by the minorities like that of the Jewish community in Elephantine as well as by certain members of the Egyptian aristocracy. It is even strongly possible that the sacking of Egyptian villages and in particular that of Thebes that the Greek sources speak of may have never happened. In any case, it certainly did not happen with the amplitude related to by these texts, strongly influenced by Anti-persian propaganda... The solemn burial of an Apis Bull in year 6 of Cambyses contradicts equally the tradition of impiety that posterior sources give to the achaemenid sovereigns. If we believe Herodotus, Ctesias and especially "The Roman of Cambyses" or the Chronicle of Jean Nikiou (...)that are our principal sources of the period, Cambyses would have conducted himself with the most extreme savagery, assassinating the Apis at Memphis. He would have equally proceed to cause mass deportations of any opposition, etc. These texts are only transcribing the core of nationalist propaganda that had developed less under the Persian domination than later on : While the Greeks, conquerors of the Persians and new masters of the country while meticulously upholding this other form of < damnatio memoriae > of their ancient rivals. >> Nicolas GRIMAL, Histoire de l'Egypte ancienne,(History of Ancient Egypt) p 441-443. What Grimal attempts, despite everything else, to deny for Cambyses as well as for other Persian sovereigns, is in actuality a normal act during a period of war : ravaging cities, profaning the temples, to persecute the enemy, etc., are part of the acts of war that the Egyptians themselves committed against their enemies ; we can not then, reasonably, attribute everything to account of propaganda, may it have been nationalistic or Greek. The passage that we have cited in the corpus of our text proves this anyway.>>
11
<< In 490, the Greeks defeat the Persians at Marathon, forcing Darius to focus his attention on another front. The Delta (Egypt) takes this opportunity to riot in 486 B.C. Darius I dies before being able to intervene and it is Xerxes who accedes to the Egyptian throne. He ceases the revolt and puts at the head of the Egyptian satrap his own brother, Achaemenes, who toughened the administration to such a rate that well after the Ptolemaic era, the name Xerxes was to be written in Egyptian texts with the determinative normally reserved for vanquished enemies. >>37
These abuses, exactions, or the << vexations >> , according to the word of Yoro Dyâo, then do not leave us a shadow of a doubt. The matter is now to identify the character that Tradition has retained as their author. Being that Soosé-Tuuré begins with an / s/ that can indeed assimilate into the /t/ found in /stwt/, we think that the choice that displays the better logic is Stwt-Ra (Darius) : in any case, it is not improbable that Setwt-Ra could have very well have given Soosé-Tuuré, whatever the linguistic process may be.
The elements seen here are of a capital importance because they confirm the veracity of tradition as it has been brought to us by Yoro Dyao. The latter not being an Egyptologist nor frequenting egyptologists in his own Senegalese environment, could not have known by any other means aside from Oral Tradition, either the << vexations >> of Persian sovereigns nor the "crowning name" of Darius the 1s t . We also hold through this identification a key milestone of chronological size on the migrations departing from the Nile : to remind the reader, the reign of Darius I begins in 522 before christ and comes to term in 486 BC.
Let us, however, retrieve what could be a contradiction : Yoro Dyao affirms that at the arrival of the Manna, the Fuuta was empty. Yet, we know that the Jaa Oogo should have been there. In reality, to him, the latter installed themselves in the Waalo and not in the Fuuta : which permitted him to say that the Fuuta was empty at the arrival of the Manna. Nonetheless, we can still follow Yoro, given the fact that the Jaa Oogo, historically occupied the Fuuta, in which effect we have already stated, constituted the 1st Dynasty.
Then come the Tonñjon :
« Cette migration fut plus importante que les précédentes. Elle s'empara sans coup férir de tous les droits des fari. Farang qui fut le titre de leurs souverains, était aussi celui du roi d'Egypte qui les avait forcés à l'expatriation par les corvées incessantes auxquelles il les astreignit. Une partie de ces populations, sans cesser de faire partie de l'empire des Farang, s'établirent de bonne heure sur la rive droite du Sénégal, dans le pays de Sokhotoro, Kindila, Gangari et Tambo-Dugura, sous le nom' de Sarakhollé ou Soninké. Elles s'avancèrent peu à peu sur le fleuve et vinrent enfin s'établir sur les deux rives y formant quatre Etats indépendants3 8 ... »
ME / snT / = found/ settle/ people a land WLF: < sanT > = found/settle/ people a land
37 See N. GRIMAL, Histoire de l'Egypte Ancienne, (History of Ancient Egypt).., p. 445. 12
<< This migration was more important than the preceding ones. It, without a fight, took all the titles and rights of the Fari. Farang was the title of their sovereigns, and was also that of the King of Egypt that had forced them to expatriation by the incessant drudgery to which he commanded them. Part of this population, without ceasing to be part of the Empire of the Farang, established itself early on within the right bank of the Senegal River, in the country of the Sokhotoro, Kindila, Gangari and Tambo-Dugura, under the name of Sarakhollé or Soninké. They advanced slowly upon the river then finally came to establish themselves on both sides of the river, there forming 4 independant states.38>>
Yoro Dyâo teaches us that this migration, just like the ones preceding it, came from Egypt under the exactions of the Pharaoh; here he specifies that it concerns << incessant drudgeries >> . We also learn from him that the sovereign Tonñjon carried the same title as the king of Egypt. Even if Yoro establishes a difference between Fari and Farang , in reality it is just what we have stated above, a same term that presents itself here and there in its different variant forms ; which is one of the numerous proofs that all the people that utilize this term originally belonged to a same cultural unit. To finish up with the Tonñjon, let us remark that it is Southern Mauritania, part of the great desert, which appears to be the region of transit of all the migrations before their implantation in the Senegal River Valley.
The 4th migration is that of the Tourmiss : A point of interest for several reasons, yet here is what Yoro Dyao says of it :
«Cette migration, causée comme les précédentes par les exigences du Farang d'Egypte, fut plus petite que les précédentes. Elle se composeait de blancs formant deux groupes de races différentes mais étroitement d'accord dans toutes les questions d'intérêt commun. Tourmiss était un homme d'une beauté de formes remarquable ; il appartenait au groupe le plus nombreux, qui se composait de Peuls. Cette migration et celle de Koli Tengella sont celles qui ont conduit les tribus Peuls dans les six pays de Sénégambie39...»
<< This migration, caused like the other preceding ones by the exigencies of the Farang of Egypt, was much smaller than the preceding ones. It was composed of whites forming two different races but in one accord in all areas of common interest. Tourmiss was a man that was remarkably handsome ; he belonged to the group that was the most numerous that was made up of Peuls.(Fulani) This migration and that of Koli Tengella is the one that directed the Fulani tribes into the six countries of the Senegambia... >>
ME / rx / = to know, for something to know another, copulate WLF: < rax > = be mixed (racially, ethnically), to be full of knowledge (spiritual)
38 Cf. Yoro DYAO, Les six migrations...>>, p. 127. 39 Cf. Yoro DYAO, << les six migrations...>>, p. 12
13
What is new here is that the migration is uniquely made up of whites broken down into << two different race groups. >> Yoro Dyâo without doubt most likely meant " of different ethnic groups; " In truth, he is speaking of Peuls and Mandeng people (as it is seen at the end of his text). It is curious that Yoro Dyâo would consider the Peul and the Mandeng as whites. However, that should not be such a surprise if one is familiar with the theories of the time : one would also have to keep in mind that, on the behalf of a good Waalo-Waalo, such comments are not surprising.40
Even if Yoro Dyâo doesn't state this in his text, this migration, also transited through Southern Mauritania, where, as we know, the title Laam-Termes (Laamdo Termes) was carried by the Peul. Another fact deserves to be noted : Yoro Dyâo explicitly states that Koli Tengella came from Egypt (at the very end of his text), but he does not reserve for the latter the same particular treatment as the other migrations in question - being that he himself was a migrant - for the good and simple reason that he lived at the end of the XV and beginning of the XVI century41 ; unless of course he is speaking of a completely different Kolli Tengella.
The last migration is that of the Touri-Sing or Lam-Toro :
« Moussa, premier Lam Toro, partit de Touri-Sing, sa patrie, village situé près de la Mecque suivant les uns, en Egypte suivant les autres. II arriva au Sénégal à la tête d'un corps de cavalerie qu'aucune femme ne suivait 4 2 ...»
<< Moussa, the first Lam Toro, departed from Touri-Sing, his homeland, a village situated in what some say is in proximity to Mecca or in Egypt according to others. He arrived in Senegal at the head of a cavalry that no woman was apart of nor followed.42>>
Here, it is especially the toponymic indications given by Yoro Dyao that we will focus on. This locality that could have been in Egypt definitely evokes the Ancient Egyptian term /t3 wr/, which was the name of the Thinite nome that sheltered the capital of the Pharaohs. We also know that the Tooro is the region of the Fuuta around which all the political power organized itself : at such extent that today the average Senegalese says Fuuta Tooro ; a manner of insisting in the importance of that province in the history of the Valley. In the Egyptian origin hypothesis of the Peul speaking peoples, this information was not without use.
ME /nag/ = cow WLF : < nag > = cow
ME /iH/ = ox WLF : < yékk > = ox
40 In fact, particularly for the Peul, Yoro DYAO could have been influenced by the Africanist theories of the time, that, who, in their immense majority, thought that the latter had a white ascendance. Otherwise, the Wolof, ethnic group to which belonged Yoro Dyao, was conscious that the Manding, and especially the Peul, had skin that was much lighter than theirs ; it is more likely this nuance that Yoro DYAO wanted to render.
41 Cf. O. KANE, Le Fuuta Toro des Satigi aux Almaami, T. I, p. 137-16 42 See Yoro DYÂO, << Les six migrations...>>, p. 129
14
After having gone through the list of migrations departing from Egypt, let us see what Yoro says on the origins of the Wolof and the Sereer, who confirm, in one manner or another, the omnipresence of Egyptian roots in the collective memory of the Senegambian populations, at the time when he received the Oral Tradition that served as the basis of his thesis.
On the Sereer, this is what Yoro Dyao has to say :
« Le Sérère est un peuple demeuré dans le dernier degré de l'état primitif et [il est très attaché] à une sorte d'idolâtrie particulière dans laquelle de sensibles traces de l'ancienne mythologie égyptienne se fait [sic] remarquer. Cette idolâtrie source de l'état Thiédo, appelons-la Thiédoïsme, nom social en Sénégambie (y compris les Sérères) de tous ceux qui ne sont pas musulmans [vient selon toute vraisemblance, d'une forme corrompue] de cette mythologie égyptienne, vu que l'opinion générale en toute la Sénégambie est que notre contrée doit son peuplement à des migrations d'Egypte, desquelles descendent toutes ses populations 4 3 .»
<< The Sereer are a people still living in the last phases of a primitive state (and they are very attached to) a sort of particular idolatry in which observable traces of the Ancient Egyptian Mythology are noted. This idolatry, source of the Tieddo state, let us call it Tieddoism, social name in Senegambia (as well by the Sereer) of all that are not muslim and subscribe to this Egyptian mythology (no doubt in its corrupted form), being that the general opinion in the entire Senegambia is that our country owes its peopling to migrations from Egypt, from which descend all of its populations. 43 >>
What is interesting to note here is the relationship without equivalent that Yoro Dyâo established between the Sereer religion and that of Ancient Egypt. It is perhaps useless to specify that the Sereer are of the last tenants of traditional religion in the Senegambia : and they have fought long and hard to keep it.44 It is even probable that it was to escape islamization that they left the valley of the River Senegal to install themselves in the south (essentially in the Sin and Saalum.)45 What we know of the beliefs and funeral rites and especially the burial sites of the Sereer strangely bring the mind to Pharaonic Egypt : the infrastructures of the sereer tombs evoke the subterranean parts of the mastaba and the superstructure, its roof completely covered with earth brings a pyramid to mind.46 Otherwise, thanks to the raised stones, that have an important site at Tundi Daro, in Mali, Cheikh Anta Diop, proposed an itinerary of Sereer migration from the Nile Valley to West Africa.47 As far as the Wolof, Yoro Dyâo still claims to be drawing from Tradition:
ME / dqr / = fruit, fruit tree
WLF: < daqaar > = tamarind fruit, tamarind tree
. ME / sin / = clay WLF: < sin > = clay
43 Cf. R. ROUSSEAU, << Le Senegal d'autrefois. Etude sur le Oualo >>, p. 169-170 and the 1s t on these pages. 44 See C. A. Diop, L'Afrique Noire Precoloniale, p. 213. (Pre-Colonial Black Africa) 45 Cf. H GRAVRAND, La civilization sereer. Cosaan, p. 107-127. 46 Cf. C. BECKER et V. Martin, << Rites de sepultures...>>, p. 268-282 and especialy p.277.p, fid. 3
47 See C. A. DIOP, Nations negres et Cultures , T. II, p. 392-401 ; L'Afrique Noire Precoloniale 15
«Ne nous serait-il pas permis d'admettre (si l'on pouvait compter sur la conformité à la réalité des instructions des recueils légendaires) que les Ouoloffs sont les croissants résidus réciproques ou croisés avec une ou plusieurs légions des émigrants d'Egypte des habitants du grand et mystérieux continent de l'Atlantide que recouvrent aujourd'hui les eaux profondes de l'Océan4 8 .»
<< Wouldn't it be permissible for us to admit (if we could count on the conformity to reality of these legendary recitations) that the Wolof issued from a reciprocal or singularized cross between one or more of the Migrant legions of Egypt from Atlantis that today is covered by the deep waters of the ocean.48 >>
The Wolof are then born of crossings between the same elements as the migratory waves come from Egypt and inhabitants of Atlantis. If the notion of migrations departing from Egypt are familiar, the name Atlantis is very surprising coming from under the pen of Yoro Dyâo. Did he receive this from the West African Oral Traditions ? Or, as it is most likely, was he influenced by the Africanists of his time ? We opt for the latter hypothesis in the measure that, in that era, numerous publications were made on the subject of Atlantis. The famous german explorer Leo Frobenius, had even passed through the region, in research of the mysterious disappeared continent.49
In any case, the origin of the Wolof is also given in rapport with Ancient Egypt. In reality, we know from the works of Cheikh Anta Diop that the origin of the Wolof is to be looked for in the Nile Valley.50 Yet and still, Cheikh Anta Diop, in his younger writings, thought that the Wolof ethnic group was the result of ethnic mixing that took place in Senegal of which the main element was the Sereer.51 One must specify that an Egyptian Origin is not forcibly antonymous with mixing posterior to an arrival in West Africa, in the measure that the ethnic facts that are in question here depend on a process where it is hard to determine a beginning or end.
Here are the great thesis lines of Yoro Dyâo on the Egyptian origin of West African populations. Well above even his thesis, there are certain other details that really give great credibility to the affirmations of the precursor of Cheikh Anta Diop.
ME /Xt/ = people WLF : < xéét > = people (ethnicity)
ME /xt/ = things matters, affairs, some/anything WLF : < xéet > =things, matters, affairs, categories
48 R. ROUSSEAU, << Le Senegal d'autrefois. Seconde etude sur le Cayor >>, p. 126
49 See, among others, P. GAFFAREL, L'Atlantide, p. 119-212 ; L. de ROSNY, L'Atlantide historique. For the voyage of Leo FROBENIUS in West Africa, see his two following works : Auf dem Wege nach Atlantis , in which concerns Upper Senegal, Upper Niger and Togo, and Mythologie de l'Atlantide, especially the introduction, p. 12.
50 See C. A. DIOP, Nations negres et culture, T. II, p. 493-505 ; L'Afrique Noire Precoloniale, p. 217-222 51 See C. A. DIOP, << Etude linguistique Ouolove...>>, p. 9-31.
16
3. REVEALING DETAILS
Let us start with the royal incest that Yoro Dyâo writes about in his study dedicated to the Cayor. Amari Ngoné Sobel, burning with the desire to leave his blood in the Mén family,52 by proxy of his son Massamba Tako and having no potential seed bearer in the whole family aside from his own sister, Thioro Djiguen, was faced with a grave and manifest illegality of any conjugal union between Massamba and his aunt and could only inspire repugnation if they wanted to offer her to him in marriage... The Damel-Teigne sat down with Diogobé, 53 came up with a rich present and Thioro Djiguen had herself passed as Diogobé, she followed these instructions for several nights with the Prince during his frequent drunken nights on puokhe.54 When she became pregnant, Amari hastily ordered for her the construction of a home in the Baol where she was Linguère and sent her there. Amari hoped that by doing so he would bring to life children of his gufno55 in his Mén Ouagadu that would keep the title of Damel and Teigne(téeñ) in his maternal family line at the detriment of his own son.56
We should specify here that the Cayorian society was matrilineal. Given that Massamba Takko, his inheritor, was of the matrilineage of Muyooy, Amari Ngoné Sobel had no other recourse, as it is explained by Yoro Dyâo, in order to conserve power in his own maternal family. R. Rousseau, who picked up on this fact, goes further in his comments:
«Quelles sont les conséquences du fait essentiel, la primauté de la famille utérine.. 7 L'idée la plus simple est que chaque souverain, pour conserver le trône à son fils, épouse une femme de sang royal. Yoro Dyâo semble le dire pour les Guellouar et l'affirme nettement pour le Cayor, à propos duquel il en donne deux exemples : celui d'Aman Ngoné Sobel et le mariage forcé de Massamba Tako. Cette coutume correspond à celle des pharaons égyptiens qui épousaient leur soeur dans la même intention : évincer leurneveumaternel,qui,àGhana,remplaçaitsononclesurletrône.»5 7
<< What are the consequences of this essential fact, the primacy of the uterine family.7 The simplest idea is that each sovereign, in order to conserve the throne of his son, espouses a woman of royal blood. Yoro Dyâo seems to state this for the Guellewar and affirms the same for the Cayor, concerning which, he gives two examples, that of Aman Ngoné Sobel and the forced marriage of Massamba Tako. This custom corresponds to that of the Egyptian Pharaohs in which they marry their sisters with the same intention : to oust the threat of their maternal nephew, who, in Ghana, replaced his uncle on the throne.57>>
ME /mn/ = this one, that one, so & so, someone
WLF : < mén > = this one, that one; being spoken of ME /tni/ = old man, elder, old age, grow old WLF : < téeñ > = chief elder,grow old (Baôl, Damel Téeñ)
52 Wolof term meaning "maternal line".
53 The wife of the Prince.
54 Local Alcohol (millet beer, according to our colleague Mbaye Gueye).
55 Guegno << belt >> in Wolof ; here "paternal line."
56 Masammba Takko was from Meen Muyooy; for this passage, cf. R. ROUSSEAU, <<Le Senegal d'autrefois. Etude sur le Cayor >>, p. 264-265.
57 Cf. ROUSSEAU, R, : << Le Senegal d'autrefois. Seconde etude sur le Cayor >>, p. 140-141 17
This commentary of R. Rousseau, that naturally, takes a turn towards Egypt in order to find a parallel, despite his well exposed reserves mentioned above, reinforces in a certain manner the thesis on an Egyptian origin of West African populations, and furthermore (by a personal communication by our colleague Mbaye Gaye) the practice of royal inceste in the center of the Wolof monarchies was not a rare phenomenon before the expansion of Islam.
It is by speaking on the origins of the Ñoole that Yoro Dyâo furnishes two other details that are very important for the confirmation of the Egyptian origin of the Senegambian populations.
«La race Gnolé aurait été engendrée comme suit: II se trouva dans l'émigration Diahogo partant de l'Egypte pendant son long séjour dans un endroit du désert (peut-être l'oasis de Titt où elle se fixa très longtemps), un homme gravement malade durant très longtemps et qui mourut. La maladie l'avait tellement décharné qu'il ne pouvait faire le moindre mouvement pour accomplir aucun désir, les derniers jours qui précédèrent sa mort. Cet homme dont la tradition a oublié le nom, avait une femme d'une beauté rare, dont le nom est également perdu. A la mort du malade, ses voisins rassemblés au logis mortuaire pour le mener à sa demeure éternelle aperçurent sur lui un signe de vie sous l'aine : il n'y a pas besoin d'aller en détails sur la grande surprise que produisit l'événement. L'opinion d'un homme d'esprit qui fut de faire donner un dernier adieu par sa femme, ayant été suivi, la régularité survint sur le corps [le cadavre reprit une allure normale] et il en survint une merveille bien plus surprenante encore : la femme fut enceinte et devint mère de deux jumeaux, un garçon et une fille, dont la tradition ignore encore les noms. Les Sénégambiens prétendent que les descendants des jumeaux sont, aussitôt après l'expiration, couverts de fentes dégoûtantes qui se multiplient avec une progression épouvantable [une rapidité] et se décomposent en très peu de temps avant d'être enterrés si on ne se hâte pas de leur rendre ce dernier service. A partir de ce moment où la putrescibilité inaccoutumée fut remarquée sur les descendants des jumeaux, on leur donna le nom de domi-niw (fils de cadavre), ainsi que plusieurs autres dont on trouvera plus bas les plus intéressants.»
<< The Gnole (Ñoole) would have been engendered in the following manner : There was, in the emigration of the Jaa Ogo departing from Egypt, during its long stay in a location within the dessert (perhaps the Titt Oasis where it stayed a long while.), a man that was gravely ill during a long period and then had passed away. The disease had inflicted him such that he couldn't make the slightest movement to accomplish any desire in the last days preceding his death. This man, whom Tradition has forgotten the name, had a wife of rare beauty, and whose name is equally lost. At the death of the sick man, his neighbors all assembled themselves at his mortuary shelter and saw a sign of life from him in his groin: there is no need to go much further on the great surprise that this event caused. The opinion of a man of spirits was to have the man's wife give him a final good-bye, what follows; the corps regained a natural vital form, and the following was an even greater miracle, the woman became pregnant and soon the mother of a set of two twins, a boy and a girl, that Tradition again, has obscured the names thereof. The Senegambians claim that the descendants of these twins, immediately, after expiring, became covered with nasty cuts and cracks that spread quickly and then decomposed in very little time before being buried if one did not first render them that latter service. From the moment where this unusual plausibility was noticed on the twin descendants, they were given the name << domi-niw >> (corpse children), and thus many others as we will see below even more interesting. >>58
58 Cf. ROUSSEAU, R : << Le Senegal d'autrefois. Etude sur le Oualo >>, p. 177-178. 18
Let us begin our commentary on this long passage from Yoro Dyâo by this curious parallel that is constituted by the origin recitation of the Ñoole and the myth of Osiris. Let us briefly remind the reader of the story of Osiris : Osiris was the 1s t born of Geb and Nut, inaugurated, after the nTrw, the reign of human Kings over Egypt. But his brother Seth, jealous of him, kills him and disperses his body, it seems, over the whole country. His wife, Isis, a great magician, succeeded in finding his missing parts and momentarily reanimating her husband, time enough to become pregnant from him ; it is thus that she conceives this posthumous child named Horus who, after intense battles with Seth, inherits the throne of his father.
Horus is then the son of a corps and a living woman like the set of two twins evoked by Yoro Dyao. The difference between the two and horus is that, in one instance the son of the corpse occupies the highest summit of the social pyramid and in another, his counterparts are rejected to the very bottom of the social ladder.
Mamadou Diouf had well indicated the twins, one a boy and the other a girl, whose' Traditional names are the positions occupied by the Ñoole in Wolof society. 59 ; this degradation was due to the fact that the Ñoole were considered "impure." Horus, is himself the symbol of purity ; and the fact that our characters occupy the extremes of their respective societies preserves the formal parallelism between the two myths and going from there the cultural facts that are Egyptian and those of the migrants spoken of by Yoro Dyâo. The similitudes are however extremely striking. We also fall to the temptation of asking ourselves if the social degradation that struck the descendants of the twins was not simply a sign of the loss of mummification techniques by these migrants. The temptation was however also stronger than Yoro Dyâo who himself brings up this loss of Egyptian traditions within the migrants as it concerned noble blood.60
ME / fnT / = snake, intestinal worm, be maggotty WLF: < fanT > = be worm eaten, be very old
ME / (i)art / = uraeus; sister of the vulture, both are divinities keeping evil away from royalty WLF: < artu > = to be careful, to watch out, be alert, keep away from
59 See DIOUF, Mamadou : << Le probleme des castes dans la societe wolof >> , Revue Senegalaise d'Histoire, Vol. I #2, Jan-June 1981, p. 25-37.
60 Here is what he says exactly : << these differences in bnobility between the King electors... are consequences of the good or bad conservation of the great royal families, immigrated to Senegal from Egypt where they were born>>. Cf. R. ROUSSEAU, << Le Senegal d'autrefois. Seconde etude sur l Cayor >> ; see for more precision << Notes sur l'origine et les coutumes successorales des Ouoloffs >> (Notes on the origins of the Wolof succession customs).., p. 136-141
19
Let us finish by a specification of Yoro Dyâo, which is that the couple that gave birth to the twins was part of the Jaa Ogo migration. This detail, in fact, shows us as well, that our author had not lied to us : Jaa Ogo means in Pulaar << master of fire >> whereas Ñoole, though most likely a Wolof term, is also very likely of Pulaar origin since the root of the term nyol- means: << to rot, be rotten >>
We had stated earlier that the agricultural tools of the Senegal River Valley where the Jaa Ogo had introduced agriculture, were the very same as those in Pharaonic Egypt.61 We
have also shown the voluntary confusion that existed as much in the Egyptian language then as in certain other West African languages in the words << to create >> << to forge >> . With this parallel of the Osirian Myth, we have at least 3 proofs that show that the Egyptian origin of the Jaa Ogo is not just a figment of the imagination. In fact, there is a bundle of internal facts in the text to which are needed the addition of other exterior facts ; all of which leaning towards proving that the thesis of Yoro Dyâo who, let us remind the reader, is supported by Oral Tradition, is authentically true. The veracity of his thesis can be established on the basis of another detail contained within his texts on the Ñoole : it is his suggested toponym of "Titt"
Here goes the passage again by Yoro Dyao :
<<There was, in the emigration of the Jaa Ogo departing from Egypt, during its long stay in a location within the dessert (perhaps the Titt Oasis where it stayed a long while.), a man that was gravely ill during a long period and then had passed away.>>
Yoro Dyâo teaches us that not only did the Jaa Ogo migration pass through the desert, but that it had a long stay in the desert. It could be << the oasis of Titt where it
stayed a long while . >> It is important to specify here that the << maybe >> bares no weight on the passage of the Jaa-Ogo migration by the oasis of Titt, neither on the length of the transit at this place of water, exactly where the events that gave birth to the Ñoole happened. This toponym actually exists in reality, if not an invention by Yoro Dyao, we hold here a milestone of great importance between the Nile and the Senegambia. Verifications made, there very well exists two toponyms in the form of Tit in the south of Algeria. Coordinates of the first (that we have determined is approx.) are the following : 1° 29' 20" E & 26° 52' 39"N. As Yoro Dyâo speaks of migrations, we have verified to see if there was an oasis there. The Hatier Global Atlas" (L'Atlas Mondial Hatier) shows us the oasis of Tidikelt in the same sector that surrounds the oasis of Tit.
62
ME / pH / = reach person, place or people, influence, attain wealth, finish doing something, contest, attack with comment, surround WLF: < péxé > = influence, connections, business, problems(difficulty), to give one 'the go around'
61 Cf. A. M. LAM. L'Origine des Fulbe(Origins of the Fulbe).., II, planches IV-VII. 62 Cf. A. JOURNAUX, Atlas mondia l(World Atlas), p. 26-27, IP6.
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The coordinates of the 2nd one were given to us by Mme M. C. Chamla.63 They were the following : 220 59' N & 50 10' E ;according to the map of Africa calibrated at 1⁄5.000.000 established by the IGN (Institut Geographique National) in 1929, Tit is situated in the Hoggar massif. Presence of water is probably due to site occupation (as shown through archeology and the existence of a village). In truth, one Tit gives another but which is the more ancient ? What about Tit Melil, right next to Casablanca, would that be linked to our toponym ? In any case , this internal fact under the pen of Yoro Dyao expressing itself in the form of a toponym that is still in existence in our modern times, gives by itself a real basis to the whole migrational thesis. We have here, a singular fact of great importance, to which must be added the other ones we have pointed out in this study. Thus, we now possess a bundle of facts that exclude by chance coincidences and incertitudes and thereby impose the thesis of Yoro Dyâo.
ME:/ baHw / = inundation, flood, have/bestow abundance, be well supplied, inundated WLF:< bax /( w / i )> = boil; overflow, heat. < baax (é)> = good, abundant, bestow abundance upon, gift, abundance
/ bxxw / = heat? < bax > = heat water; boil, boil over, overflow (apply heat for/unto reaction)
/ bXbX / = pride ? < baxbax (lu)> = to act better than one is, act better than others, (act prideful in a bad way)
63 Cf. M. C. CHAMLA, Les Populations anciennes du Sahara (The Ancient Pop. of the Sahara) p. 112. From the same author, Tit would be a prehistoric site, which would mesh well with the chronology of our migrations.
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CONCLUSION
As we can see, the contributions of Yoro Dyâo on this controversial question on the migrations en provenance of the Nile is capital. He also used nothing else except oral tradition which, at the time when he wrote this, was sufficiently alive to illuminate things over which we still have immense controversy today. Let us repeat then, after so many others, that the safeguarding and restoration of Oral Tradition is fundamental in the writing of the History of Africa.
The testimony of Yoro Dyâo also permits us - and this is important - to rehabilitate the figure of Cheikh Anta Diop. We have stated in the beginning of this study that Cheikh Anta
Diop did not know about the works of Yoro Dyâo on an Egyptian Origin of the Senegambian Peoples ; otherwise, he would have surely cited them, whereas, in none of his publications that we know of does he make any allusion to any aspect of knowing of those works. Cheikh Anta Diop that had, quoted Herodotus, Diodore de Siculus and so many others, would not have forgotten about Yoro Dyâo.
In 1973, he was systematizing his thesis on the nilotic origins of the negro populations in his article titled : << Introduction to the study of migrations in Central Africa and West Africa- Identification of the nilotique cradle of the Senegalese People. >> In the beginning of this study, he wrote :
« Il s'agit de démontrer qu'à une époque relativement récente une migration partie des rives du Lac Albert et des collines de Nubie (région habitée par les Nouer, Shillouk, Dinka, etc.) aurait atteint le Sénégal en se glissant dans le couloir situé entre le 10e et le 20e parallèle au-dessus de l'équateur...»
<< This consists of demonstrating that at a relatively recent epoch, a migration departing from the banks of Lake Albert and the hills of Nubia (region inhabited today by the Nuer, Shilluk, Dinka etc) would have reached Senegal by venturing through the pass of the 10th and 20th parallels above the equator. .. >>
Cheikh demonstrated this using linguistics and especially toponymic facts as well as using anthroponymy. It is interesting to note that by employing different means Yoro Dyâo and Cheikh Anta Diop end up with the same results : the Titt oasis (most northern) is at less than 7° above the 20th parallel indicated by the senegalese master scholar as being the northern limit of its pathway ; the other is at 2° above the 20th parallel. Yoro Dyâo was a loyal collaborator and one convinced of the colonial system and, at the time when he disappeared, nationalism was perhaps only at its first faltering steps. It is very difficult then, under these conditions, to suspect Yoro to have defended the thesis of the Egyptian origin of the peoples of Senegambia in order to take revenge over colonialism or to concoct a false history : better yet, he affirms that it was a common position among his contemporaries. No, one must recognize that Maury, Suret-Canale,
22
Thomas and all the others were unjust in the regard of Cheikh Anta Diop, who did nothing but sincerely and truthfully follow the course of scientific rigor rather than that of ideology, as in the way they have held him ; as must be the Waalo-Waalo Yoro Dyâo, his precursor, who would have had a lot to do with it. In waiting, let us affirm with vigor that the migrations between the Nile and the Senegal, that seemed as unseizable mirages, become a palpable reality with the capital contribution of Yoro Dyâo.
ME: / ant / = pick, to pick, adze WLF: < anta > = to pick/gather; good results, finalize
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BIBLIOGRAPHIE
AW M., « Sidia Léon Diop, un vrai prince sénégalais », Afrique Histoire, n° 9, 1983, p. 45-50. BECKER C. et MARTIN V, « Rites de sépulture préislamiques au Sénégal et vestiges protohistoriques », Genève, Archives Suisses d'Anthropologie Générale, 46, 2, 1982, p. 261-293. CHAMLA M. C., Les populations anciennes du Sahara et des régions limitrophes. Etude des restes osseux humains néolithiques et protohistoriques, Mémoires du Centre de Recherches Anthropologiques, Préhistoriques et Ethnographiques, IX, Paris, Arts et Métiers Graphiques, 1968, 249 p. + VIII pl
BOCOUM H., La métallurgie du fer au Sénégal. Approche archéologique, technologique et historique, thèse de Doctorat de 3e cycle, Université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1986, I-VIII + 333 p. DELAFOSSE M. : Haut-Sénégal-Niger, Paris, G.P., Maisonneuve-Larose 1912; rééd. en 1972, vol. I ; 428 p.
DELAFOSSE M. et GADEN H., Chroniques du Foûta sénégalais, Paris, E. Leroux, 1913, 328 p. DIOP C.A., « Introduction à l'étude des migrations en Afrique centrale et occidentale. Identification du berceau nilotique du peuple sénégalais », BIFAN, série B, T. XXXV, n° 4, 1973, p.769-792. - Nations nègres et culture. Paris, Présence Africaine, 1979, 2 vol., 572 p., rééd.
- Civilisation ou barbarie. Paris, Présence Africaine, 1981, 526 p. - L'Afrique Noire précoloniale, Paris, Présence Africaine, 1987, 278 p., rééd. - Nouvelles recherches sur l'Egyptien ancien et les langues négro-africaines, Paris, Présence Africaine, 1988, 221 p. - « Etude linguistique Ouolove. Origine de la langue et de la race valaf », in Alerte sous les Tropique ; Art. 1946-1960, Paris, Présence Africaine, coll. Culture et Développement en Afrique Noire, 1990, p. 9-31. DYÂO Y. : « Les six migrations venant de l'Egypte auxquelles la Sénégambie doit son peuplement », in DELAFOSSE M. et GADEN H., Chroniques du Foûta sénégalais. Paris, E. Leroux, 1913, p. 123-131. FROBENIUS L., Auf dem Wege nach Atlantis, Bericht über den Verlauf der 2 Reise-Period des D.I. A. F. E. in den Jahren 1908 bis 1910 von Leo FROBENIUS.... Berlin, Vita, 1911 XV + 411 p.
- Mythologie de l'Atlantide. Le «Poseidon » de l'Afrique Noire Son culte chez les Yoruba du Bénin.., traduction française du Dr. F. Gidon, Paris, Payot, 1949, 260 p. GADEN H., Légendes et coutumes sénégalaises. Cahiers de Yoro Dyao, publiés et commentés par Henri GADEN..., Paris, E. Leroux, 1912, 31 p., extr. de la Revue d'Ethnographie et de Sociologie, III, 3-4, 1912, p. 119-137 et 191-202.
GAFFAREL P., « L'Atlantide », Annales de la Faculté des Lettres d'Aix, T. 7, n°s 3-4, Juillet Décembre 1913, p. 119-212. GARDINER A. H. et WEIGALL A. E. P., Topographical Catalogue of the Private Tombs of Thebes, London, Bernard Quaritch, 1913, 32 p.
GAUTHIER H., Le livre des Rois d'Egypte. Recueil des titres et protocoles royaux, noms propres de rois..., Le Caire, Imprimerie de l'IFAO, 1910-1917, 5 t. en 9 vol., MIFAO, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. - « Les fils royaux de Kouch et le personnel administratif de l'Ethiopie », Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes (R.T.), 39, 3-4, 1920-1921, p. 179-238.
GRAVRAND H., La civilisation sereer. Cosaan, Dakar, N.E. A., 1983, 361 p. GRIAULE M., Dieu d'Eau. Entretiens avec Ogotemmêli, Paris, Fayard, 1985, 222 p., rééd. GRIMAL N., Histoire de l'Egypte ancienne. Paris, Fayard, 1988, 593 p. HERODOTE, Histoires, Livre III, Thalie, texte établi et traduit par Ph. E. LEGRAND, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1958, 3e éd., 186 p. 138 JOURNAUX A., Atlas mondial. Paris, Hatier, 1968. 188 p. KANE O., Le Fuuta-Tooro des Satigi aux Almaami (1512-1807), thèse pour le Doctorat d'Etat ès Lettres, Université de Dakar, 1986, 3 t., 1124 p.
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LALOUETTE C., L'empire des Ramsès, Paris, Fayard, 1985, 539 p. LAM A. M., L'origine des Fulbe et des Haal-pulaar en. Approche égyptologique, thèse pour le Doctorat d'Etat ès Lettres, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, 1989, 2 vol., 910 p., + XI pl. LECLANT J., « Afrika », Lexikon der Ägyptologie, I, 1, Wiesbaden, 1972, col. 85-94. - « Egypte pharaonique et Afrique », Paris, Institut de France, 1980, n° 10, tiré à part, 11 p. LUGAN B., Afrique, l'histoire à l'endroit, Paris, Perrin, Coll. Vérités et Légendes, 1989, 285 p. MAUNY R., Comptes rendus de DIOP C.A. Nations nègres et culture, et de « Les intellectuels doivent étudier le passé non pour s'y complaire mais pour y puiser des leçons », La Vie Africaine, n° 6, Mars-Avril 1960, p.10-11, in Bulletin de 1'IFAN, série B. T. XXII, n°s 3-4, 1962, p. 544-551. - Compte rendu de DIOP C.A., L'Afrique Noire précoloniale, in Bulletin de 1'IFAN, série B, T. XXII, n°s 3-4, 1960, p. 551-555. POSENER G., La première domination perse en Egypte. Recueil d'inscriptions hiéroglyphiques, Le Caire, IFAO, Bibliothèque d'Etude, XI, 1936, XVI + 206 p. RANKE H., Die Ägyptischen Personennamen, Gluckstad, J. J. Augustin, 1935-1952, 2 vol. ROSNY L. de, « L'Atlantide historique ». Etudes d'ethnographie et d'archéologie américaines, Paris, E. Leroux, 1902, 160 p. (incomplet). ROUSSEAU R., « Le Sénégal d'autrefois. Etude sur le Oualo. Cahiers de Yoro Dyâo », Dakar, Bull. du Comité d'Etudes Historiques et Scientifiques de l'AOF (BCEHS), T. XII, Janvier-Juin 1929, p. 131-211.
- « Le Sénégal d'autrefois. Etude sur le Cayor (Cahiers de Yoro Dyâo) » Bull. du Comité d'Etudes Historiques et Scientifiques de l'AOF, T. XVI, Avril-Juin 1933, p. 237-298. - « Le Sénégal d'autrefois. Seconde étude sur le Cayor (Compléments tirés des manuscrits de Yoro Dyâo) », Bull. de 1'IFAN, série B., T. III, n°s 1-4, p. 79-144. STRABON, The Geography of Strabo, with an English translation by Horace Leonard JONES, in Eight vol., London, W. Heinemann Ltd, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1949, vol. VIII, 510 p. THOMAS L. V., « Temps, mythe et histoire en Afrique de l'Ouest », Paris, Présence Africaine, T. XXXIX, 1961, p. 12-58. VELDE H. te, "Ptah", Lexikon der,Ägyptologie, VI, Wiesbaden, 1982, col. 1177-1180. WRESZINSKI W., « Noch einmal der Name », Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 42, Leipzig, 1905, p. 144. YOYOTTE J., « Les principauteés du Delta au temps de l'anarchie libyenne (Etude d'histoire politique) », Mémoire de l'IFAO, n° 166, Mélanges Maspero, I, 4, Le Caire, 1961, p. 121-181.
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Surface Analyses and Sources of RnyKmt vs Wolof words.
1) ME / wba / = open, to open, rise of sun WLF: < uba > = open, to open, rise of sun The /w/ phoneme is interchangeable with a /u/ or /o/ sound as in in other words like /wHa/ <--> <okha> which is many times pronounced as <wokha> = scratch, to scratch, scrape, scrape off.
2) ME / Dd / = djed pillar, stable, enduring, truth
WLF: < Jaad ( u )> = stable, enduring, functioning, upright, fair, channel, take path. This iconic glyph, known as the backbone of Wsir, also appears to render little change in semantics and phonetics from M.E to WLF. The occasional /u/ at the end is a suffix indicating completed action. Wolof being a Beer language (see Mboli)... This word in Wolof is frequently used in Senegal to mean stable, enduring, functioning, upright, fair, channel, take path but no longer has any specific religious connotation, at least no more than it would in English for example.
3) ME / tpy / = be upon, be first, foremost
WLF: < tabbi > = be upon, land upon, open, start It is common for a stressed /p/ sound to become a /b/ or double /bb/. This word is often employed in the Wolof idioms such as "Yalla na ko Yalla tabbil Adjana". a var. is tàmbe "to start, to begin, to open'. An /m/ can often insert itself between an open long /a/ and a /b/.
4) ME / baq / = fortunate
WLF: < bàkk > = praise/brag for self, or for ancestors It is a well known, and extremely common fact in Africa that fortune and luck is connoted with having "good lineage" it is usually synonymous with the capacity to be lauded or praised, and with good character, likely an offshoot of "Griot culture" which itself is nearly a universal practice across Africa. This is most likely why the praising of ancestors is also a part of the semantics of this phoneme. Here also note middle egyptian ending consonant /q/ often has a value of /kk/ in WLF, qeq → lekk
5) ME / Xnn / = disturb, interfere; w/ persons; commands, to confound
WLF: < xàñ > = deprive, keep info from, impede progress This entry shows a clear conservation of semantics and form through and throughout. There are several ways to write this word in mdw-nTr yet all carry the same meaning.
6)
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ME / HH / = fight the force ? Break the force ? -of a wave in a wreck ? WLF: < Xéex > = to fight, struggle, contest, oppose. This entry also shows a very close conservation of mdw nTr to WLF and may very well add insight to the meaning of the phoneme for researchers in mdw nTr.
7) ME / nai / = traverse, travel; waterway, convey someone, open field, run away, swim away, conquer ?
WLF: < ñai > = traverse, travel, get away, convey, open field /n/ → /ñ/ is very frequent in mdw nTr to wlf comparisons and will be demonstrated in later works. Here the unification of the different semantic legs under one consonant cluster is how we know that this is the same word.
8) ME / Ds / = blade, knife, dagger; to sharpen blade
WLF: < Jaasi > = blade, dagger (daas) to sharpen The /D/ and /d/ are interchangeable in this word and in general between both mdw nTr and WLF which is why some speakers say /jaasi/ and others /daasi/.
9) ME / rn / = name, to name
WLF : < rañé > = recognize These words are in all similitude cognates but have different primary semantics at the moment. The words used in wolof for name is /tur/ which is an offshoot of /twr/ = 'libation, spill, sereer ceremony, respect'. These two words most likely meet in the semantic field of libation and respect as ancestors names are called out for various reasons differing from region to region, yet mostly to evoke their qualities or their guidance. In any case a name, is a tool used to recognize a person's identity.
10) ME / ftt / = obliterate inscriptions
+ ME / ft / = show dislike
WLF: < fatt > = 1 block the cracks, patch, fill in, plug 2 bother, disturb someone, obstruct, be obstructed WLF:< fatté > = forget WLF: < faat > = kill This entry is interesting because the practice of obliterating inscriptions does not exist in Senegal, except maybe among some obscure graffiti crews somewhere in Dakar. Yet the semantic behind the phoneme are almost exactly identical. To obliterate one's inscriptions is to make them be forgotten and killing their KA. In greater African culture, the repetition of an ancestors name is one of the things that keep them alive in the present world.
11) ME / Dar / = search out, pass through, investigate, seek, probe, wound, plan work, take thought for
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WLF:< jaar > = search out, take a path, seek, a wound, hole, guide . In this entry there is absolutely no difference in semantics or form from mdw-nTr to WLF.
12) ME / rx / = to know, for something to know another, copulate WLF: < rax > = to mix, be mixed (racially, ethnically), to be full of knowledge In M.E. this word is sometimes used to have the same meaning as "to know" in WLF however it only used occasionally and in a religious sense, "to be mixed with something else, a higher power", It is however, primarily used to mean "mixed", "of mixed ethnicity or race."
13) ME /nag/ = cow WLF : < nag > = cow 14) ME /iH/ = ox WLF : < yékk > = ox Here simply note /iH/ where /H/ → /kk/ ,this again, is a common progression in wolof, just the same as with /q/. These two entries are very critical words, as livestock is an integral part of agrarian society.
15)
ME / dqr / = fruit, fruit tree WLF: < daqaar > = tamarind fruit, tamarind tree Additional research needs to be done to identify the usage of tamarind in kmt though it is known that it was widely used. 'Daqaar' is actually where the modern capital city of Dakar got its name from. The story goes that when the French arrived into the area, they observed that the locals used the fruit and and tree for so many different things so they asked them what it was called. The locals responded "daqaar", the French then used it to name the land where they found those people, who mostly correlate to the Lebou.
16) ME / sin / = clay WLF: < sin > = clay Sin is another middle egyptian phoneme that becomes a Senegalese toponym. /sin/ means clay, but it is also a region at the interior of Senegal where there are two rivers named the Sin and Saloum, the region gets its named for its rich clay. It is also a legendary home of the Sereer after moving from the N.W part of the country by the mouth of the Senegal river in order to escape the rise of Islam.
17) ME /Xt/ = people WLF : < xéét > = people (ethnicity)
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ME /xt/ = things matters, affairs, some/anything
WLF : < xéet > =things, matters, affairs, categories Wolof has conserved the two forms of this word yet is rarely used to say "thing".
18) ME /mn/ = this one, that one, so & so, someone WLF : < mén > = this one, that one; being spoken of, so & so
This word is most likely related to middle egyptian demonstrative pronouns like pn, or wolof bn. It is also used as a family name and has evolved into /mbeng/ one is to wonder then about the story from Yoro Dyao on how the /men/ acquired their name, especially if we suppose that he himself didn't officially know mdw nTr. This lexeme will be re-examined in upcoming works on the origin of Wolof Noun classes.
19) ME /tni/ = old man, elder, old age, grow old
WLF : < téeñ > = chief elder, grow old (Baôl, Damel Téeñ)
In wolof the /i/ at the end is added to say 'is getting old or has gotten old'. This entry also brings to light the reverence Africans have for the elder class that is afforded a position of honor in most african societies including Kmt.
20) ME / fnT / = snake, intestinal worm, be maggotty
WLF: < fanT > = be worm eaten, be very old This entry is also strikingly similar holding the same semantics one to the other aside from "snake" yet this author would not be surprised to see it still alive in certain WLF dialects depending on the region.
21) ME / (i)art / = uraeus; sister of the vulture, both are divinities keeping evil away from royalty
WLF: < artu > = to be careful, to watch out, be alert, keep away from
The /i/ in the beginning of this word is a convention adopted by egyptologists over time, the same applies in wolof in the sense that it is pronounced by some as /yartu/. This is one of the words that causes one to ponder on the social standing of the people who originally brought this word into the Senegambia if it did indeed come with the migrations mentioned by Yoro.
22) ME / pH / = reach person, place or people, influence, attain wealth, finish doing something, contest, attack
with comment, surround WLF: < péxé > = influence, connections, business, problems(difficulty), contest, to give one 'the go around'
This is a very frequently used word in M.E. and it appears to have no changes in meaning or form aside from where I can say that <pexe> is no longer commonly used to mean "reach as into travel to a destination", it hasn't been dropped exclusively but is only used by traditional WLF speakers. There is a variant that I thought only existed in Wolof but I located in M.E. rendered as /fx/ or WLF <fexe> = set out to, manage to, manage to reach, try, persist.
23)
/ baHw / = inundation, flood, have/bestow abundance, be well supplied, inundated < bax /( w / i )> = boil; overflow, heat.
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< baax /( w / é )> = good, abundant, bestow abundance upon, gift, abundance
/ bxxw / = heat? < bax ( w )> = be heating up, heat water; boil, overflow (apply heat for/unto reaction) / bXbX / = pride ? < baxbax (lu)> = to act better than one is, act better than others, (act prideful in a bad way)
All the sound changes in this entry are very frequent and nothing out of the ordinary. What does raise an eyebrow, is how the semantics of abundance link with overflowing, how does that have anything to do with heat ? All of these different semantic aspects can be reconciled if the reader is but to consider the culture surrounding the Nile river and its seasons of over flooding coinciding with heat, as if the river boiled over. It is also supported by the Wolof word <baxantal> which means to celebrate a ceremony every year at the same time, this is in reminiscence of the annual flooding of the Nile. The pridefulness aspect is tied to the fact that bad emotions are said to "show" or "seep through" in many African languages. The same notion is distantly held in the West today when people are said to "be boiling mad", or "being about to boil over."
24) ME: / ant / = pick, to pick, adze
WLF: < anta > = to pick/gather; good results, finalize
The root word here is probably /an/ the /-tu/ suffix works exactly like the english article "to" or english suffix /-ing/ and /an/ means to pick up from the ground. Also should the reader need reminded "a pick" is used to heap things up from the ground or the earth, where as "an adze" is used to carve out, and scrape out dirt from an agricultural perspective but for an artist it used to carve, scrape and finalize a sculpture. It is also, of course, as hinted to in the paper, the middle name of the late great sSw saH Anta Diop.
26) - , with the variations , , ME: / DA - Hqa / = ruler (of) flame/fire
Peul/WLF: < Dja - Ogo > = ruler of flame/fire
As you can see, we can find cognates for the name of the first migration from Egypt that arrived in the Senegambia, the moniker has not been located by itself as of yet in this state of the research. The reader can at this point either recognize the unity of Negro - Egyptian or Cyena - Ntu languages in itself as it is attested in WLF or Peul/Fulani, or also take a step further and entertain the veracity of Yoro Dyao's recitation of a very ancient and far spread Senegambian Oral History. Only further scientific inquiry will bring a more complete response to those questions.
All mdw-nTr words in this article have been sourced from the Online Mark Vygus dictionary and All Wolof words have been taken from Ay Baati Wolof (1997) and the Peace Corps (The Gambia) Wollof - English Dictionary. (1995). Any additional insight is from the Author of this translation himself as a native speaker of the language. Any error in translation that deviates from the original french is mine and not that of the original Author, the great Elder Scholar sbA Aboubacry Moussa Lam. ( www.jatmbinde.com. 2017)
