Voices of the Ancestors : African Myth

by Allan, Tony; Time-Life Books; Fleming, Fergus; Phillips, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780705436434
• ISBN10: 0705436438
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-01
• Publisher: Grand Central Pub

Summary

A dramatic series that captures, culture by culture, the information that never makes it into the history books: strange stories, mystic rites, angry gods, vision quests.

Table of Contents

Cradle of Humankind	6	(20)
Africa and its Peoples	8	(16)
Picture Essay: Ancient Palaces of the Kings	24	(2)
Wonders of Creation	26	(26)
Oldest Tales of the San	28	(2)
The Separation of Heaven and Earth	30	(4)
Making the Earth	34	(4)
Ancestors of Humankind	38	(4)
The Duality of Twinship	42	(2)
The Origin of Cattle	44	(2)
Life's Staples of Food and Fire	46	(2)
Ancient Serpent Beings	48	(2)
Picture Essay: Scars of Ancestry	50	(2)
An Ordered World	52	(26)
The Coming of Death	54	(4)
Living in Terror of Witches	58	(4)
Seeking Sanctuary from Shapeshifters	62	(2)
The Diviner's Secret Arts	64	(4)
Brotherhoods of the Initiates	68	(2)
The Roles of Men and Women	70	(2)
Learning Lessons from the Animals	72	(4)
Picture Essay: Death's Rich Ritual	76	(2)
Heroes and Tricksters	78	(38)
The Epic Songs of the Bards	80	(4)
Wonderful Children	84	(2)
Lonkundo the Hunter	86	(2)
Son of Death	88	(4)
The Blacksmith Culture Heroes	92	(2)
Anarchic First Man	94	(2)
Unwitting Agents of Order	96	(4)
Keen Wits of Ananse	100	(2)
Hlakanyana the Zulu Trickster	102	(2)
Legba the Lecher God	104	(4)
The Outwitting of the Mischief-Maker	108	(2)
Dark Spirits of the Forest Fastnesses	110	(2)
Picture Essay: The Mystique of Masks	112	(4)
Kingdoms and Empires	116	(18)
The Kings Who Came from the Sky	118	(4)
The Vanishing City	122	(2)
The Lion of Manding	124	(2)
The Queen of Sheba's Son	126	(4)
The Wise and Peaceful King	130	(2)
A Hero Betrayed	132	(2)
The African Legacy	134	(4)
Glossary and Index	138	(6)
Further Reading and Picture Credits	144