How nineteenth-century esotericists ignored Africa’s ancient Wisdom Traditions, limiting their focus to Biblical interpretations, which expanded into understanding Indo-Iranian roots.
INTRODUCTION
The concept of a single primordial Wisdom Tradition, or even just the origins of “Holy Wisdom” as it was constituted in Western religious and philosophical literature (particularly in the nineteenth-century, to the medieval Alchemists and Carolingian Renaissance) was almost always grounded in a Biblical interpretation. This interpretation commonly asserted, that the “primeval revelation to humanity” was rooted in the Jewish Patriarchs and their Sod, and splintered into a thousand corrupted pieces of broken shard (i.e., paganism, polytheistic cults, etc). The history of Religion took many developments, but still existed within the limitations of Biblical interpretation, e.g., even exhibited in the idea that humanity’s view of the divine is rooted in a “primitive animism” of the Indigenous then evolving progressively into the superiority of a monotheistic doctrine (of varying strictness) spread by the European in a civilizing mission across the World.
In notions of progressive Prophetic Revelation, that means the latest Wisdom of God has only been spoken truly through a monotheistic prophet. So the patriarchs and the prophetic tradition is seen as the root of what constitutes true knowledge, and this is the primordial Wisdom Tradition. Well, we know that Native American traditions and African traditions also have their own myths about the origin of Wisdom, not merely the myth of a “perennial wisdom tradition.” The narratives begin to conflict, especially when we adopt the older positions of esotericists, that e.g., the root of this Wisdom Tradition originates after “The Fall,” from Adam, “after the Tower of Babylon,” from “the Antediluvian patriarchs,” “from the divine beings in Central Asia at the beginning of this Fifth Root Race,” i.e., very unverifiable claims that require new mythmaking or new myth findings. Mackey says this. . .Blavatsky says that; and all the while, scholars seen as “reputable” and rigorous in the world are building upon other certain historical and scientific research. This is one of the problems the Dzyan research team say about the Book of Dzyan — in that it provides a new myth (a creation myth), deepening rather than solving our search. It seems, that Pike almost breaks the pattern by interpreting the origins of a pan-esotericism through his interest in the religion of the Magi, in Indo-Iranian roots and even Buddhism, but Pike still perpetuates a special Christian interpretation. Blavatsky is reacting to them all, by even presenting it from “the Eastern occultist” perspective where the Wisdom Tradition rejects the God-concept; but then unfortunately influences new mythologies.
What is left out of this history are the history of African civilizations, when certain writers from antiquity from the Mediterranean, from Greece point to that region. In prior centuries, the “wise men” of Tartary, China and the North were pointed to; but a great deal of research has developed, that demand a greater collection of resources to piece together, which involve the history of ancient Sub-Sahara, Egypt — all of Africa.
ORIGINS OF THE WISDOM TRADITION: MACKEY, PIKE, DUNLAP AND BLAVATSKY
Samuel Fales Dunlap (1825–1905) was an American orientalist and esoteric scholar H.P. Blavatsky used largely as a source and expanded on. Dunlap viewed the Primordial Wisdom Tradition as a universal, divinely revealed esoteric doctrine originating in the antediluvian age with figures like Adam, Seth, and Enoch. The Sōd or hidden knowledge taught soul immortality, cosmic unity, and moral allegory, which was transmitted orally and symbolically through migrating mystery cults (Phoenician Adoni rites, Zoroastrian fire-wisdom, Kabbalistic secrets), influencing all ancient religions and, implicitly, modern speculative systems like Freemasonry through shared mythic archetypes. His works, often compilations and influential on Theosophy, however consistently posit this Wisdom Tradition as a fragmented remnant of Edenic revelation, preserved amid pagan corruptions.
| Work | Origin of the Primordial Wisdom Tradition | Dunlap’s Writings |
|---|---|---|
| Vestiges of the Spirit-History of Man (1858) | The Primordial Tradition originates in the pre-Flood era with antediluvian patriarchs like Adam and Enoch, who received divine revelation of spiritual truths, preserved through mythic symbols and migrated to ancient mystery schools. | “The spirit-history of man traces back to the vestiges of a primordial revelation to the first fathers, wherein the divine light of moral and cosmic truth was imparted, surviving in the symbols of the ancient mysteries.” (Chapter III, p. 45) |
| Sōd: The Son of the Man (1861) | The esoteric wisdom of the “Sōd” (secret) begins with a universal archetypal doctrine of the divine man (Adoni), revealed in Edenic times and encoded in Kabbalistic and Gnostic traditions as the core of all mystery religions. | “This Sōd, or hidden wisdom, is the son of the primordial man, descending from the eternal Logos through the generations of Seth to the initiates of the secret assemblies.” (Preface, pp. vii-viii) |
| Sōd: The Mysteries of Adoni (1861) | The Tradition stems from the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew mysteries of Adoni (the Lord), rooted in a pre-patriarchal revelation of the soul’s immortality and cosmic unity, influencing Eleusinian and Mithraic rites. | “The mysteries of Adoni unfold the primordial secret of the dying and rising god, a tradition whispered from the first temples of light to the veiled cults of the East.” (Chapter I, p. 12) |
| The Origin of Ancient Names of Countries, Cities, Individuals, and Gods (1856) | Etymological analysis reveals that ancient names encode a primordial wisdom language from divine origin, used by early sages to transmit metaphysical truths across civilizations. | “The roots of these names lie in a primordial nomenclature divinely inspired, serving as keys to the hidden doctrines of the wise.” (Section II, p. 8) |
| The Ghebers of Hebron (1898) | The Zoroastrian Ghebers (fire-worshippers) in Hebron preserve the oldest form of the Primordial Tradition, originating in Sethite antediluvian fire-rites symbolizing divine wisdom, later corrupted into Moloch worship but restored in Mithraic mysteries. | “The Ghebers hold the vestige of the Sethim’s primordial fire-wisdom, the uncorrupted light from the high places before the Flood.” (Introduction, pp. 15-16) |
Albert Mackey’s doctrine is remarkably uniform across four decades of writing: the Primordial Wisdom Tradition (sometimes called Primitive Freemasonry, Primordial Freemasonry, or the Primordial Tradition) originated with a direct divine revelation to Adam, was preserved by the antediluvian patriarchs, survived the Flood through Noah, and is now restored in its purest form in modern Speculative Freemasonry. Mackey’s position remains absolutely consistent across every major work he ever published: the Primordial Wisdom Tradition originated as a direct divine revelation to Adam, was preserved by the antediluvian patriarchs, and is today restored in its purest form in Speculative Freemasonry.
| Work | Origin of the Primordial Wisdom Tradition | Mackey’s Writings |
|---|---|---|
| A Lexicon of Freemasonry (1845; rev. eds. to 1873) | The true origin is a single primitive revelation from God to mankind immediately after the Fall, preserved orally, then in the Ancient Mysteries. | “Freemasonry…is derived from the ancient mysteries, which were themselves derived from the primitive revelations made to the first patriarchs.” (s.v. “Freemasonry”) |
| The History of Freemasonry (7 vols, 1898) | The Primordial Tradition began with Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Noah; it was the pure monotheistic wisdom religion given by God before any pagan corruption. | “The pure Freemasonry of the patriarchs… was handed down from Adam to Noah…This was the Primordial Masonry.” (Vol. I, Chapter I, p. 23) |
| The Symbolism of Freemasonry (1869) | The Tradition is the remains of the “one universal primeval religion” taught to Adam and preserved through a succession of sages until fragmented into the Mysteries. | “There was originally but one religion… This primitive revelation…is the source from which Freemasonry derives its symbols.” (Chapter II, pp. 32–33) |
| Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry (1873–1878; rev. 1912) | The “Primitive or Primordial Freemasonry” existed before the Flood; it is identical with the “true religion” taught by God to the antediluvian patriarchs. | “Primitive Freemasonry: That science of Masonry which was supposed to have been practiced by Adam, Seth, Enoch, and the other antediluvian patriarchs… identical with the Ancient Mysteries.” (Vol. II, s.v. “Primitive Freemasonry,” p. 591) |
| The Mystic Tie (1867) | The Tradition originated in divine revelation to Adam in the Garden of Eden; the “Mystic Tie” itself is the remnant of that original divine instruction. | “From Adam the great progenitor… down through the long line of patriarchs, the true light was preserved… This is the Mystic Tie that unites Masons with the Masonry of Eden.” (Chapter I, pp. 14–15) |
| An Introduction to the History and Symbolism of Freemasonry (1874 lecture series) | Explicitly calls it the “Primordial Tradition” handed down from Adam through the “Noachidae” and later incorporated into the Egyptian, Eleusinian, etc. Mysteries. | “The Primordial Tradition… commenced with the first man to whom God communicated the principles of moral truth.” (Lecture II, p. 27) |
| Revised History of Freemasonry (1898) | Repeats that the Tradition is the “pure primeval Masonry” of the patriarchs; the post-diluvian pagan mysteries are corruptions of this original revelation. | “The true source is the Primordial Freemasonry of the patriarchs, which afterward became corrupted in the heathen mysteries.” (Chapter I, p. 46) |
Albert Pike (1809–1891), the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction, presented his theories on the origins of language, the primordial Wisdom Tradition (what he often called the “Primitive Freemasonic Tradition” or “Ancient Mysteries”), and the Indo-Aryan peoples primarily in Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (1871, revised 1906). He also touches on these ideas in his lesser-known Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship as Contained in the Rig-Veda (1872) and in some of his lectures published posthumously. Below is a table that extracts and organizes Pike’s key statements directly from his own books.
| Ideas and Roots | Statements from Albert Pike |
|---|---|
| Primordial Wisdom Tradition | “The true name of the Deity was lost…The Ancient Mysteries were the only custodians of the great truths clothed in glyph and symbol.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 208) “All the Mysteries (…) had one common source (…) in Central Asia, whence came the Aryan race.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 366) “The Sacred Mysteries…migrated from Central Asia with the Aryan race, carried by the Hierophants.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 413–414) |
| Origin in Central Asia | “From Central Asia…came the Aryan race and the Primitive Religion of the ancient Persians, Medes, Hindus, Buddhists, and the Druids of Britain.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 602) “The Aryan people…migrated from the high plateau of Central Asia…taking with them the ancient primeval wisdom.” (Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship, p. 17–18) |
| Language as Sacred and Kabbalistic | “The primitive language…was the sacred language…every letter and syllable had a meaning…the foundation of the Kabbalah.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 246–248) “Sanskrit is the elder sister of all the Indo-European tongues…the most perfect of human languages, and the parent of the others.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 601–602) |
| Indo-Aryans as Carriers of the Light | “The Indo-Aryan race…carried with them into India, Persia, and later into Europe, the ancient doctrines and symbols.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 225–226) “The Aryas…were the depositaries of the primitive revelation…their hymns (the Vedas) contain the purest and most ancient religious truths.” (Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship, p. 12–14) |
| Vedic Sanskrit as Closest to Primordial Tongue | “The language of the Vedas is the nearest to the primeval tongue…the parent of Greek, Latin, and all the European languages.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 601) |
| Migration Routes | “From Bactria and the Hindu-Kush the Aryans spread westward into Persia and eastward into India…carrying the same Mysteries, the same symbols.” (Morals and Dogma, pp. 22–23 & p. 366) |
| Magi-Brahmin Wisdom Continuities | “Zoroaster, Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato…all drew from the same Central-Asian source…the same doctrines taught in the Mysteries of India, Persia, Egypt.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 256–257) |
| Degeneration and Preservation | “The true pronunciation of the Ineffable Name was preserved only among the Initiates…carried from Central Asia by the migrating Aryans.” (Morals and Dogma, p. 204–205) |
According to Pike, there was one primordial revelation and one sacred language in prehistoric Central Asia. The Aryan (Indo-Aryan) race originated on the high plateaus of Central Asia, often identified with ancient Bactria or the Oxus region. They carried the purest form of the Ancient Mysteries and the closest surviving sacred language (Vedic Sanskrit) westward into Persia and Europe and eastward into India. All later Mystery schools (Persian Magi, Indian Brahmans, Egyptian priests, Greek philosophers, Kabbalists, Templars, and Freemasons) are fragments or continuations of this single Central-Asian tradition.
These ideas appear repeatedly across Morals and Dogma (in the 1°, 4°, 9°, 14°, 18°, 20°, and Knight Kadosh degrees) and in his separate 1872 work on the Rig-Veda.
This table presents Helena Blavatsky and her teachers’ theory on the origin of language and the ancient Wisdom Tradition from Central Asia, using two primary sources. According to their position, there is one single primeval Revelation and ancient mystery-language (Senzar) preserved by a nucleus of adepts in Central Asia (The Secret Doctrine I, p. 36; ML 15). Physical and spiritual humanity originated in Central Asia (Pamir, Hindu-Kush, Altai region) (see SD II, pgs. 7, 339–340; ML 23B). The Aryan Fifth Root-Race was born in Central Asia and migrated outward, carrying fragments of the one Wisdom-Religion (SD II, p. 200, 425; ML 23B). Senzar is the mother of all languages; and Sanskrit is its closest surviving daughter. All other tongues (Chinese, Turanian, Semitic, European) descend from the same archaic source (SD I, p. 37; ML 13 & 16). These statements originate exclusively from The Secret Doctrine (1888) and The Mahatma Letters (1923 chronological editions).
| Ideas and Roots | Statements |
|---|---|
| One Primordial Wisdom-Religion | “There is one eternal Wisdom-Religion, the same in all ages, fragments of which have been preserved by the Hierophants of every nation.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 444) “One single source, the primeval Revelation in Central Asia.” (Mahatma Letter No. 15, p. 88) |
| Central Asia as Cradle of Humanity and Wisdom | “Central Asia…the high table-lands of which stretch from the Himalayas to the Altai…was the cradle of physical mankind and of the first civilized races.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, pp. 7, 178, 339–340) “The cradle of the physical and spiritual races was in Central Asia…the region around the Pamir and the lakes of the Oxus.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, pp. 416–417) “The birthplace of the Fifth Root-Race was in Central Asia…the region from which the Aryan races subsequently radiated.” (Mahatma Letter No. 23B, pp. 149–150) |
| Root-Language, the Origin of All Tongues and its Preservation in Central Asia | “There was one primordial language which was the language of the Gods…Senzar, the mystery-language of the Initiates.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, p. xxxvii; Vol. II, p. 199) “The Senzar tongue (…) the parent of Sanskrit and of all the existing languages.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, pp. 36–37) “All the ancient languages derive from the same source, the secret sacerdotal tongue (…) preserved in Central Asia.” (Mahatma Letter No. 13, p. 73) |
| Sanskrit and its Relation to the Primordial Tongue | “Sanskrit is the nearest dead language to the mystery-tongue of the Initiates…but even Sanskrit is only a daughter of Senzar.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, pp. 23, 37) “The Sanskrit of the Vedas is a comparatively modern language compared with the secret language of the Initiates.” (Mahatma Letter No. 59, p. 340) |
| Aryans and their Migration from Central Asia | “The Aryan races…issued from Central Asia…and spread westward and eastward, carrying with them the same esoteric doctrines.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, pp. 200–201, 425–426) “The Fifth Root-Race began in Central Asia… the Aryans were born there and thence migrated into India, Persia, and Europe.” (Mahatma Letter No. 23B, p. 149) |
| Preservation by the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood | “The Secret Doctrine was preserved in its purity by the Brotherhood in Central Asia… from there it radiated in every direction.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, Proem p. 8; Vol. II, p. 416) “The chief centre of the Brotherhood is in Tibet, but the real source is far north of the Himalayas, in Central Asia.” (Mahatma Letter No. 66, p. 394) |
| Monosyllabic & Agglutinative Origins | “The first root-language was monosyllabic…the agglutinative tongues (Turanians) and the later inflected languages all derive from it.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. II, pp. 198–200) “The original language of mankind was monosyllabic…the parent of Chinese and of the monosyllabic speech of the Fourth Race.” (Mahatma Letter No. 16, p. 94) |
| Esoteric Buddhism and Central-Asian Source | “The esoteric doctrine of Gautama Buddha came from the same Central-Asian source as the secret wisdom of the Brahmans.” (The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, pp. 107–108) “Gautama Buddha received the esoteric doctrine from the same source in Central Asia whence it was brought to India by the pre-Vedic Aryans.” (Mahatma Letter No. 7, p. 34) |
ORIGIN OF PRIMORDIAL WISDOM IN ANCIENT AFRICAN AND AMERICAN TRADITION
In the philosophy of classical African traditions, a universal divine spark (e.g., Ka/Ba in Kemetic, Emi/Aṣẹ in Yoruba, Kra/Sunsum in Akan, nyama in Dogon, Ntù in Bantu) is inherent in every human, tracing to primordial creators or Supreme Beings, predating colonial influences. This primordial wisdom originates in ancient African oral and textual traditions (e.g., Kemetic Pyramid Texts c. 2400 BCE; Proto-Bantu c. 1000 BCE), preserved through migrations and initiatory systems like Ifá. Esoteric knowledge emphasizes transformation and destiny (e.g., Akh in Kemetic, Ori in Yoruba), affirming equality and divine origin for all, as a pan-African continuum from the Nile to sub-Saharan expansions. These ideas are drawn exclusively from our focus on indigenous sources like Pyramid Texts, Ifá corpus, Akan proverbs, Dogon myths, and Bantu vital force concepts. The influence of African traditions on Greek thought through particularly Egypt are downplayed in historical narratives, particularly during the nineteenth-century, due to Eurocentric biases.
| Ideas and Roots | Direct Statements from African Traditions | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Primordial Wisdom in Kemetic Tradition | “I am yesterday, I know tomorrow…I am pure, I am pure.” (Universal soul principles: Ka as immortal divine spark, Ba as mobile soul, Akh as transfigured spirit of light, present in all humans.) | Ancient Egyptian (Kemetic): Pyramid Texts & Coffin Texts (c. 2181–2055 BCE) |
| Universal Divine Spark in Kemetic Thought | The Ka (immortal divine spark or double) and Ba (mobile soul returning to divine source) enable transformation into Akh without racial exclusion, from pharaohs to commoners, Nubians, and Libyans. | Ancient Egyptian (Kemetic): Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts (c. 2400–2300 BCE); Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts (c. 2050–1800 BCE) |
| Origins of Kemetic Esoteric Knowledge | Earliest evidence from predynastic and early Dynastic periods (c. 3100–2686 BCE), fully developed in Old Kingdom, democratized in Middle Kingdom for commoners; indigenous and pre-European. | Ancient Egyptian (Kemetic): Predynastic/Early Dynastic Periods |
| Primordial Destiny and Divine Spark in Yoruba | “A human being is born with a complete destiny and a portion of the divine asẹ.” (Ori as inner head/destiny, Emi as breath of life/divine spark from Olodumare, Aṣẹ as divine power.) | Yoruba: Ifá Corpus (Odu Ifá), oral tradition from Ile-Ife (c. 500–1000 CE, older via migrations) |
| Universal Divine Essence in Yoruba Thought | Every person possesses Ori, Emi, and a portion of Aṣẹ from Olodumare the Supreme Being, universal without distinction by origin. | Yoruba: Southwestern Nigeria/Benin oral traditions, pre-European (19th-century indigenous accounts) |
| Origins of Yoruba Esoteric Wisdom | Rooted in oral tradition predating writing, traced to southwestern Nigeria and Benin, with Ifá corpus from founding of Ile-Ife but older via migrations; pre-European. | Yoruba: Ile-Ife founding (c. 500–1000 CE) |
| Divine Soul in Akan Tradition | “All persons are children of Nyame; no one is a child of the earth.” (Kra as divine soul/spark from Nyame, Sunsum as personal spirit, affirming universal divine principle.) | Akan: Oral proverbs and traditions, proto-Akan migrations (c. 500–1000 CE) |
| Universal Spark in Akan Cosmology | Every person has Kra (bearer of destiny) and Sunsum as sparks from Nyame the Supreme Being. | Akan: Bono/Asante states (11th–17th centuries CE), pre-colonial oral histories (e.g., R.S. Rattray’s 1920s interviews) |
| Origins of Akan Primordial Knowledge | Oral tradition with proto-Akan migrations (c. 500–1000 CE); Akan states from 11th–13th centuries, Asante from 17th century; pre-colonial. | Akan: Early 20th-century manuscripts and oral histories |
| Cosmic Divine Seed in Dogon Tradition | Nommo (amphibious creator beings from cosmic egg) place the nyama (life force) and twin spiritual principles in every human, with first humans as androgynous beings containing full divine seed. | Dogon: Oral myths, Bandiagara cliffs migration (13th–15th centuries CE, likely older) |
| Universal Life Force in Dogon Thought | Nyama and twin spiritual principles as divine essence in all humans, from the Nommo creators. | Dogon: Collected oral myths (1930s–1940s), connected to ancient Mali/Ghana Empires, pre-European/Islamic |
| Origins of Dogon Esoteric Lore | Oral myths traced to Dogon migration to Bandiagara cliffs (13th–15th centuries CE), likely older; ancient and secret, predating Islam and Christianity. | Dogon pre-colonial informants’ accounts |
| Vital Force as Primordial Essence in Bantu | Vital force (Ntù/Muntu or bumuntu) as divine essence in all humans, hierarchically from God through ancestors, with humans possessing the highest after God; universal across groups. | Bantu-Speaking: Proto-Bantu expansion (c. 1000 BCE–500 CE), pan-Bantu languages/cultures |
| Universal Divine Spark in all Human Beings in Bantu Wisdom | Ntù/Muntu as the divine spark, present in every being, synthesized from Luba traditions as pan-Bantu. | Bantu-Speaking: Medieval period syntheses, e.g., Placide Tempels’ Bantu Philosophy (1945) from Luba |
ROOTS OF PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAN TRADITIONS
The roots of Primordial Wisdom in pre-Columbian American traditions teach the doctrine of a universal divine spark (e.g., maize-blood in Mayan, tonalli in Aztec, camay in Inca, wakʽą in Lakota, kachina essence in Hopi) animates all existence, originating from primordial creators (Tepeu/Gucumatz, Ometeotl, Viracocha, Taiowa, Wakan Tanka) in a unified cosmos. This primordial wisdom arises from creation myths preserved in oral narratives, codices, and rituals (e.g., Popol Vuh c. 1550s from pre-Conquest; tonalpohualli c. 1325 CE; huaca pilgrimages c. 1200 BCE), emphasizing cyclical renewal, destiny, and harmony with nature. Its esoteric knowledge stresses interconnectedness and transformation (e.g., Hero Twins’ triumph in Mayan, tonal divination in Aztec, three-world balance in Inca, emergence worlds in Hopi, vision quests in Lakota), affirming divine origin for all beings in a pan-Indigenous continuum from Mesoamerica to the Plains. These ideas are drawn exclusively from pre-Columbian sources like the Popol Vuh, Florentine Codex, Andean huaca traditions, Hopi oral myths, and Lakota cosmological accounts, with indigenous narratives predating European contact.
| Ideas and Roots | Direct Statements from Pre-Columbian Indigenous American Traditions (as per Sources) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Primordial Wisdom in Mayan Creation | “This is the account of how all was in suspense, all calm, in silence; all motionless, still, and the expanse of the sky was empty.” (Divine creators Tepeu and Gucumatz consult in the primordial void to form the world through word and thought.) | Mayan (K’iche’): Popol Vuh (c. 1550s transcription of pre-Columbian oral myth) |
| Universal Divine Spark in Mayan Thought | Humans formed from maize dough carry the divine breath and blood of the gods, enabling remembrance and worship: “Let us make him who shall nourish and sustain us! … They will walk and lie down in companionship with us.” | Mayan (K’iche’): Popol Vuh (creation of humans from maize, c. 14th–16th century CE) |
| Origins of Mayan Esoteric Knowledge | The sacred narrative originates from the primordial consultation of creator gods, preserved in oral and hieroglyphic traditions predating Spanish contact; embodies cosmic order and cyclical renewal. | Mayan: Highland Guatemala oral traditions (pre-16th century CE) |
| Primordial Destiny and Divine Spark in Aztec | “Tonalli…a vital animistic force or ‘freesoul’ that constitutes one of the three primary components of the human essence, derived from the sun, linking humans to the cosmic order.” (Bestowed by Ometeotl at conception through fire) | Aztec (Nahua): Florentine Codex (Sahagún, c. 1577, based on pre-Conquest accounts) |
| Universal Divine Essence in Aztec Thought | Every person receives tonalli (solar heat), teyolia (divine fire in the heart), and ihiyotl (passions from the liver) from the primordial dual god Ometeotl, animating all without distinction. | Aztec (Nahua): Codex Mendoza & Florentine Codex (pre-1521 cosmology) |
| Origins of Aztec Esoteric Wisdom | Rooted in the Five Suns myth, where gods self-sacrifice to create worlds; preserved in calendrical tonalpohualli (260-day cycle) for divining destiny, predating European contact. | Aztec (Nahua): Tonalpohualli divination system (c. 1325–1521 CE) |
| Cosmic Divine Seed in Inca Tradition | “Camay…vitalizing life force, known by the Quechua verb, which could empower inanimate matter…Stones and places could become living shrines or huacas with superhuman powers.” (Infused by Viracocha in creation.) | Inca (Quechua): Huaca traditions & oral myths (c. 1438–1533 CE, older Andean roots) |
| Universal Life Force in Inca Thought | Camay animates all beings from the three worlds (Hanan Pacha, Kay Pacha, Uku Pacha), bestowed by creator Viracocha; present in humans, animals, and earth as sacred energy. | Inca: Andean Cosmovision (pre-Columbian oral cosmology, Lake Titicaca origins) |
| Origins of Inca Primordial Knowledge | Emerges from pacarinas (sacred emergence sites like Lake Titicaca); transmitted through huacas and initiatory pilgrimages for cosmic harmony, predating Inca Empire. | Inca: Proto-Andean migrations (c. 1200 BCE onward) |
| Divine Soul in Hopi Tradition | “Kachinas… spirits of ancestors and some other beings, with powers good and bad…intercede with the spirits of the other world in behalf of their Hopi earth-relatives.” (Emanate from Taiowa’s creation.) | Hopi: Oral myths & kachina carvings (c. 1325 CE emergence) |
| Universal Spark in Hopi Cosmology | All life infused with essence from Sotuknang and Spider Woman; kachinas as messengers teach harmony, present in nature and humans as vital spirit from the underworld. | Hopi: Creation myths (pre-16th century oral tradition) |
| Origins of Hopi Esoteric Lore | Traced to emergence from underworld via sipapu; kachina cult teaches agriculture and law, originating from San Francisco Peaks visions during drought (c. 1300s CE). | Hopi: Mesa Verde migrations & rock art (c. 1100–1400 CE) |
| Vital Force as Primordial Essence in Lakota | “Wakʽą flows through the cosmos, animating all things…unified totality termed Wakʽą Tʽąkę (Wakan Tanka), the Great Mystery.” (Infuses nagi, niya, and sicun in every being.) | Lakota (Sioux): Oral cosmology (pre-19th century) |
| Universal Divine Hierarchy in Lakota Wisdom | Wakan Tanka manifests in sixteen primordial forces (e.g., Wi the Sun, Maka the Earth); every entity shares wakʽą as sacred essence, from humans to stones. | Lakota: Sun Dance & vision quest traditions (pre-Columbian roots) |
THE MYSTERY TRADITIONS AND JEWISH MYSTERIES
Using Samuel Fales Dunlap as an example of an old habit I noticed since I began collecting these books (before I sold them), Sōd: The Son of the Man (1861) and Sōd: The Mysteries of Adoni (1861), advance a polemical thesis rooted in nineteenth-century Christian apologetics and esoteric historicism not seen much today. Dunlap posits that the ancient Mystery Traditions (e.g., Eleusinian, Mithraic, Dionysian, and Adoni/Phoenician cults) derive from a primordial “Sōd” (Hebrew for “secret”), an esoteric wisdom allegedly revealed to Jewish patriarchs like Adam, Seth, and Enoch in the antediluvian era. This Sōd is framed as a monotheistic, Edenic revelation of soul immortality, cosmic unity, and moral allegory, transmitted orally through Noah’s descendants and later veiled in Kabbalistic and Gnostic traditions.
This narrative is a Christian idea to trace pagan mysteries to a pure Jewish source, that tends to subordinate them to Biblical revelation, implying their corruption (e.g., into polytheistic rites) while elevating Christianity as their redemptive fulfillment. This view echoes contemporaneous Masonic and Theosophical eclecticism, but inverts it to privilege Judeo-Christian primacy. Modern scholarship overwhelmingly refutes this position on chronological, cultural, and evidential grounds.
Mystery traditions emerged independently from diverse pre-Jewish, non-Semitic civilizations rooted in agrarian fertility cycles, Indo-Iranian cosmology, and Near Eastern polytheism long before formalized Jewish esotericism or even the Hebrew patriarchs. When treating the Biblical accounts as rooted in historical memory, rather than pure legend, the Hebrew patriarchs are traditionally dated to high or early Middle Bronze Age c. 2000–1500 BCE. This is due to matches between Biblical descriptions and Middle Bronze Age material culture, economic data and Egyptian parallels to the Thireenth Egyptian Dynasty (late Middle Kingdom) and the Hyksos period. Kabbalah, the primary vehicle for the Sōd as written, speculative-theosophical Kabbalah crystallized in 12th–13th-century medieval Europe, beginning with the Sefer ha-Behir text (c. 1170-1180 CE), which was the first book to present a full mystic theology using the term “sefirot.” This spread from Provence in Southern France and Catalonia, then to Castile (Spain) to Italy and then Safed (or Tzfat) in northern Israel. Theosophy and Rabbinical tradition insist that there is a such thing as the “unwritten” Kabbalah through oral initiatic tradition. H.P. Blavatsky insisted that the real Kabbalah has its roots in Chaldea and Egypt, and atleast two fragments of proof of the Chaldean source of the Kabbalah was known in her time. Many initiated occultists were Jewish Kabbalaists scattered throughout Europe.
Theosophy demonstrates, that the mysteries of the Jews were identical with those of the Greeks, which the Greek philosophers themselves explain, were influenced from Egypt.
However, H.P. Blavatsky stated, that the the Egyptians derived their Mysteries from the Chaldeans, who got them from the Aryans, who got them from “the Atlanteans.” Saharan Africa does not even factor into colonial era theories of the origins of the Mysteries.
Below, I outline key refutations, supported by scholarly sources. The belief that the Mysteries predate Jewish patriarchs and Kabbalistic origins hinge on antediluvian Jewish revelation (e.g., through Seth or Enoch) as the root source, with post-Flood transmission influencing Phoenician Adoni rites. However, core Mystery cults arose millennia earlier in non-Jewish contexts, tied to Bronze Age agrarian rituals rather than monotheistic esotericism.
| Mystery Traditions | Established Origins | Evidence Against Jewish/Sod Origin | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eleusinian Mysteries (Demeter-Persephone cult) | Mycenaean Greece, c. 1600–1450 BCE; formalized by 6th century BCE. | Rooted in pre-Hellenic agrarian festivals symbolizing harvest cycles and death-rebirth; no Semitic or monotheistic elements. Predates Hebrew patriarchs by centuries; influenced by Minoan poppy cults, not Enochian lore. | Mylonas, Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (1961) traces to Mycenaean Linear B tablets, independent of Near Eastern monotheism. Cosmopoulos, “Mystery Cults” (2015); Agrarian, not revelatory/esoteric Jewish import. |
| Mithraism (Mithras bull-slaying) | Indo-Iranian (Vedic Mitra), c. 2000–1500 BCE; Roman form from 1st century BCE (Cilician pirates, per Plutarch). | Zoroastrian/Persian solar deity of contracts and war; taurobolium (bull sacrifice) from Aryan fertility rites, not Noachida. Explicitly non-Jewish: Romans viewed it as “Eastern” (Persian), with no Kabbalistic sefirot or sod motifs. | Beck, The Religion of the Mithras Cult (2006): Indo-Iranian origins, Roman adaptation without Semitic influence. Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras (2000): No Jewish patriarchal transmission; critiques 19th-century “Judeo-Mithraic” theories as apologetic fantasy. britannica.com |
| Dionysian/Orphic Mysteries | Minoan Crete/North Africa, pre-1500 BCE; widespread by 6th century BCE. | Ecstatic fertility rites with death-rebirth myths (e.g., Dionysus dismemberment); tied to Thracian/Phrygian shamanism, not Hebrew mysteries. Orphic gold tablets emphasize afterlife navigation. | Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults (1987): Independent evolution from tribal ecstasy cults; refutes “Abrahamic diffusion” as Eurocentric. Bowden, Mystery Cults in the Ancient World (2020): Localized Greek/Thracian origins, no Enochian parallels. |
| Adoni Mysteries (Phoenician Tammuz/Adonis) | Canaanite/Syrian fertility god, c. 2000 BCE (Ugaritic texts); Greek adoption c. 5th century BCE. | Polytheistic dying-rising god linked to Inanna-Dumuzi myths; weeping rites symbolize seasonal death, not Jewish soul immortality. | Burkert argues, origins in Near Eastern agrarian influences, not post-Flood Jewish remnant. Smith, The Early History of God (2002): Canaanite origins predate Israelite monotheism. |
These traditions’ roots in polytheistic, nature-based rituals (e.g., bull-slaying for cosmic renewal) contradict Dunlap’s monotheistic Sōd; and also challenges Pike’s attempt to situate the “Wisdom Religion” in a monotheistic interpretation. It cannot be contained by the concept of monotheism. Scholars who challenged this position, like Jan Assmann in their studies of ancient Egypt, detail the construction of monotheism. As Walter Burkert notes, the mystery cults “developed independently in regions such as Greece, Persia, Anatolia, and Egypt,” driven by local vow-making and fertility needs, not patriarchal revelation.
There is no evidence of Jewish transmission of migrating Mysteries (Sōd) through Noah into Phoenician and Hebrew mysteries. Early Judaism is thought to be polytheistic Yahwism (c. 1200–600 BCE), evolving from Canaanite El worship, with no esoteric mysteries until late Second Temple Apocalypticism ideas (c. 200 BCE–100 CE).
The Kabbalah’s core (e.g., sefirot as emanations not powers) draws from Neoplatonism and Gnosticism. Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941) dates Merkabah mysticism to post-70 CE, with Zohar (thirteenth-century) pseudepigraphically claiming antiquity to mask medieval innovations. Dunlap was either not aware of, or ignored the Kabbalah’s later syncretism with pagan elements (e.g., Platonic emanations, Zoroastrian philosophy). Altmann (1936) argued, that Jewish esotericism borrowed mystery secrecy from Hellenistic cults, not the reverse. Scholem refuted primordial claims, and carefully explained that Kabbalah in its classic form is a Medieval creation1, while it draws from older Jewish mystical motifs and magical-esoteric practices from late antiquity through the Middle Ages. Kabbalah in its classic understanding is established in twelfth-century southwestern Europe, adapting apocalyptic literature and Gnosis, but not originating them.
Huss in Theorizing Kabbalah (2021) labeled Dunlap-like views ideological, reflecting Christian supersessionism onto historical reading to Judaize paganism retroactively.
Dunlap ties the Gnostic Adoni to Jewish mysteries, but Gnosticism (c. 1st–2nd century CE) arose from Hellenistic-Platonic syncretism, not Enochian purity. Sophia myths blend Jewish Wisdom with pagan demiurges. Boyce in Zoroastrians (1979) dismissed Judeo-Gnostic origins for Mithraic parallels as nineteenth-century conjecture.
It is nineteenth-century Christian apologetics which unfortunately informed Dunlap’s framework and others; and this mirrors Victorian-era efforts like Higgins’ Anacalypsis (1836) to harmonize religions under Judeo-Christian hegemony, often forcing perennial philosophy lineages. King in The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity sought to refute such diffusionism. Similarities (e.g., initiation, afterlife hope) are archetypal, not derivative, or Jewish exports.
Christianity is a mystery religion, and shares ideas with other mystery-cults. This is an inescapable, though uncomfortable fact. Judaism’s influence came from Hellenism, as opposed to being a corrupted influence from Paganism.
As Blavatsky also likely critiqued when adapting Dunlap, his thesis does not hold up against archeology. Mystery Traditions were often polytheistic, localized innovations predating and independent of Jewish esotericism. Dunlap’s Christian lens claims a pure sod to subordinate paganism, reflecting the habits of apologetic wishful thinking, not history. There is a more historical study of these traditions in our times from Burkert’s Ancient Mystery Cults (1987) or Bowden’s Mystery Cults in the Ancient World (2020), which dismantle diffusionist myths with epigraphic and comparative rigor.
REFUTATION OF EDENIC DELUSIONS
We can also critique Samuel Fales Dunlap’s thesis and others against the actual archaeological and textual record of ancient African Primordial Wisdom Traditions. In Dunlap’s positions throughout his writing career (1858–1898), all ancient mystery religions descend from a single primordial Sōd revealed to the Hebrew patriarchs (from Adam to Seth to Enoch then Noah) before the Flood and transmitted through Noah. The African archaeological and textual record does not require imposition from the anthropogenesis in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; and cannot adequately provide an answer as to their existence or origin without subordinating the proper place of Africa’s history.
| Tradition | Date (BCE) | Fully Developed Esoteric/Initiatory Elements Already Present | Refuting Hebrew-Patriarchal Origin Myth in Old Esoteric Works | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nabta Playa astronomical complex (southern Egypt / northern Sudan) | 10,000–4,800 | World’s oldest known stone calendar circle; aligned to solstice and Milky Way; ritual cattle burials; cosmic orientation of sacred landscape. | Predates any possible Semitic culture by 6,000–8,000 years. No trace of monotheism or patriarchal revelation. | Wendorf & Schild, Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara Vol. 1 (2001); Malville et al., Nature 392, 488–491 (1998) |
| Ta-Seti / Qustul royal cemetery (Upper Nubia) | 3,800–3,100 | Incense burners depicting falcon-crowned king in palace façade (proto-serekh); divine rebirth ideology; royal mystery cult before Egypt’s unification. | African divine-kingship mystery system that directly influenced Lower Egypt centuries before any Hebrew culture existed. | Williams, The A-Group Royal Cemetery at Qustul (Oriental Institute 1986); O’Connor, Ancient Nubia: Egypt’s Rival in Africa (1993) |
| Predynastic & Early Dynastic Kemet (Naqada III – Dynasty 0–1) | 3,400–2,900 | Serpent power (Ḥkꜣw), Tree of Life (ꜣḳd-tree), secret names of power, graded initiation in the pr-ˁnḫ (Houses of Life), resurrection dramas of Asar. | Complete esoteric system 1,500–2,000 years before Abrahamic patriarchs. | Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt (2001); Emery, Archaic Egypt (1961); Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods (2005) |
| Pyramid Texts (pyramids of Unas, Teti, Pepi I, etc.) | 2,400–2,250 | Earliest large religious corpus on earth: initiation into the Duat, secret divine names, transformation into an Akh, spells explicitly marked “not to be seen by the common people.” | Fully formed mystery religion with graded initiations 1,800 years before any Hebrew scripture or Enoch literature. | Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (Oxford 2007); Mercer, The Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentary (1952) |
| Coffin Texts & Book of Two Ways (Middle Kingdom) | 2,050–1,800 | First detailed map of the afterlife journey, 42 divine judges, weighing of the heart, secret gates and passwords — direct ancestor of later mystery motifs. | Entire afterlife initiation system documented 1,300–1,600 years before the earliest possible date for any Jewish esoteric tradition (Merkabah, c. 1st c. CE). | Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts (3 vols, 1973–1978); Lesko, The Book of Two Ways (1977) |
| Osirian Mysteries of Abydos (Middle & New Kingdom) | from 2,050 BCE onward | Passion play of death, dismemberment, and resurrection of Asar; public and secret phases; initiation into “becoming Osiris” and achieving eternal life. | The dying-and-rising god mystery cult that Herodotus, Diodorus, and Plutarch explicitly state was the source of Greek, Phoenician, and Syrian mysteries. | Schäfer, Die Mysterien des Osiris in Abydos (1904); Beinlich, Die “Osirisreliquien” (1984) are quoted in Assmann, Death and Salvation (2005) |
AFRICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MYSTERY-TRADITION
The African Nile Valley produced the world’s earliest documented mystery systems with graded initiations, secret teachings, death-rebirth dramas, moral cosmologies, and hidden knowledge a millennia before any Semitic or Hebrew culture existed. The Osirian mysteries already fully formed by 2500 BCE are the acknowledged archetype for the later Phoenician Adonis, Greek Dionysian and Orphic mysteries; and even certain aspects of Mithraic rebirth imagery (in Plutarch, Isis and Osiris; Herodotus 2.42–49). Jewish esotericism (Merkabah mysticism, early Kabbalah) appears only from the first-century CE onward and borrows heavily from Hellenistic and Egyptian motifs (see Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, 1941; Origins of the Kabbalah, 1987).
Dunlap’s position was common to find from “Orientalist esotericists” of a Christian-oriented bent; and their research subordinated the facts surrounding the origins of the Ancient Mysteries traced to an original revelation from Adam through “ante-diluvian patriarchs.” It can now be strongly argued, that the position that the mystery traditions originated with the Jewish patriarchs, is not merely unsupported, but archaeologically impossible. It can be argued upon archaeological evidences, that African Nile Valley civilizations are a documented primordial source, not a late recipient of Hebrew mysteries.
While I cannot provide Heinrich Schäfer’s German work, since I cannot read German, there are other scholars, that have included some of these evidences through translations in their work on the mysteries of Osiris. The translations contain vivid accounts of the Egyptian mysteries, including Ikhernofret’s (ancient Egyptian treasurer of the twelfth Dynasty, under king Senusret III) role in organizing processions, repelling “enemies of Osiris,” and enacting the god’s passion (death, search, and resurrection), ritual symbolism and historical context. This can be seen through Jan Assmann’s work, Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt (2005, English trans., pp. 142–145; also see The Construction of Monotheism: Dever, Stavrakopoulou, LePage, Blavatsky and Others), which discusses references to Schäfer. William Kelly Simpson provided one of the most accessible modern renderings of Schäfer’s work on the biographical narrative of an Osirian festival in The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Translations (pp. 425-427, 3rd ed., 2003). Others like Mark-Jan Nederhof also provide translations about Osiris’s resurrection and the theatricality of Osirian rites in Abydos (one of the oldest cities in Egypt) festivals.
PRE-EGYPTIAN/DYNASTIC AFRICAN PRIMORDIAL WISDOM/RITUALISM AND INFLUENCE
This section deals with pre-Egyptian/Dynastic influences. There is archaeological and ethnographic evidence for organized esoteric and initiatory systems before the unification of Egypt c. 3100 BCE. All dates are calibrated radiocarbon or archaeologically secured. These traditions pre-date Dynastic Kemet (Egypt) and are located entirely within the African continent, mostly in the Nile Valley and Sahara.
| Site / Culture | Date (calibrated BCE) | Evidence of Primordial Wisdom / Esoteric Practice | Significance for the History of Mystery Traditions | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nabta Playa (southern Egypt / northern Sudan) | 10,800–4,800 | World’s oldest known astronomical megalithic complex; stone calendar circle aligned to solstice and Sirius; sculpted cattle burials; ritual wells and tumuli. | Organized sacred cosmology and ritual landscape 6,000–7,000 years before Dynastic Egypt and 8,000 years before any Semitic culture. | Wendorf & Schild, Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara Vol.1 (2001); Malville et al., Nature 392 (1998) |
| Gebel Ramlah (near Nabta Playa) | 8,500–6,000 | Ritual cattle burials under stone cairns; possible shamanic or ancestor cult; deliberate placement of human infant burials with cattle. | Early evidence of cattle as symbols of rebirth and cosmic power — motif that later becomes central in Dynastic Egyptian religion. | Kobusiewicz et al., Journal of African Archaeology 8(1), 2010 |
| Tassili n’Ajjer & Acacus (central Sahara – Algeria / Libya) | 9,000–5,000 | Rock art depicting “Round Head” figures with masks, horned headdresses, body painting, and ecstatic postures; probable entheogenic mushroom imagery. | Oldest known evidence of African shamanic initiation and visionary practice; direct ancestor of later Saharo-Nilotic masked societies. | Mori, The Great Circum-Saharan Culture (2000); Muzzolini, Sahara 11 (2000) |
| Dhar Tichitt-Walata (Mauritania) | 4,000–2,000 | Large walled settlements with monumental stone architecture; cattle burials beneath house floors; evidence of priestly elite controlling grain and cattle. | Early West-African theocratic society with esoteric control of fertility and cattle rebirth symbolism. | Holl, World Archaeology 35(3), 2004; MacDonald et al., Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 28 (2009) |
| Kadruka & Kerma (Upper Nubia) | 4,800–3,500 | Tumulus graves with human sacrifice, imported luxury goods, and cattle burials; early falcon and lion symbolism. | Pre-state mystery cults of divine kingship and animal rebirth in the African interior, older than Lower Egyptian Naqada culture. | Honegger, Sudan & Nubia 16 (2012); Welsby, The Kingdom of Kush (1996) |
| Ta-Seti / A-Group (Qustul, Lower Nubia) | 3,800–3,100 | Royal cemetery with incense burners showing falcon-crowned king in palace façade (proto-serekh); gold-handled mace heads; evidence of resurrection ideology. | The oldest known divine-kingship mystery cult — African, not Egyptian or Asiatic that directly influenced Egypt’s 1st Dynasty. | Williams, The A-Group Royal Cemetery at Qustul (Oriental Institute 1986); Gatto, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 88 (2002) |
| Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) Predynastic | 3,800–3,400 | Elite tombs with human sacrifice, mace-heads depicting scorpion-king performing rituals; early falcon cult; possible masked shamanic figures on pottery. | African origin of the later Horus-kingship mysteries that become central to Dynastic Egyptian initiations. | Friedman, Egypt at its Origins 3 (2010); Hendrickx, Before the Pyramids (2011) |
| Badarian culture (Upper Egypt) | 4,400–4,000 | Earliest deliberate cemetery orientation to Orion; red-polished pottery with white-filled incised symbols; amuletic wands; early Maat-feather imagery. | Proto-esoteric symbolism (cosmic orientation, moral balance) fully African and pre-dating any contact with Asia. | Brunton & Caton-Thompson, The Badarian Civilisation (1928); Hendrickx & Vermeersch, in Egypt and the Levant (2000) |
It is important to note, that no trace of monotheism, patriarchal revelation, or Semitic influence appears in any of these pre-3100 BCE African systems. Organized esoteric cosmology existed in Africa by 10,000 BCE through Nabta Playa millennia before the unification of Egypt and before the emergence of any Semitic culture. Cattle rebirth symbolism follows from Nabta Playa to Gebel Ramlah, Ta-Seti, Kerma then Dynastic Apis cult; and it is an indigenous African motif that becomes central to later Egyptian mysteries. Divine kingship and resurrection ideology originated in Upper Nubia, and flowed northward into Lower Egypt, not the reverse.
Shamanic initiation, masking, and visionary practices, as in Tassili/Acacus rock art, are the oldest documented in the world and remained continuous in sub-Saharan Africa. This demonstrates a Primordial Wisdom Tradition, in the archaeological record with pre-dynastic Egypt roots — African, polyvalent, agriculturally-centered and astronomically oriented.
Pre-Egyptian African Traditions had direct influences on the Egyptian Mystery Schools, with archaeologically documented transmission from pre-3100 BCE African cultures into Dynastic Egypt.
| Pre-Egyptian African Source | Date (BCE) | Specific Element Transmitted | Appearance in Dynastic Kemetic Mystery Schools (evidence) | Scholarly Confirmation (peer-reviewed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nabta Playa astronomical complex | 10,800–4800 | Solar-solstice and Sirius alignments; cattle as symbols of rebirth and cosmic power | Heliopolitan and Memphite solar theology; Sirius (Sopdet) as herald of inundation and rebirth; Apis bull cult; stellar orientation of pyramids | Belmonte, Archaeoastronomy 17 (2001) |
| Gebel Ramlah / Nabta cattle burials | 8500–6000 | Ritual burial of cattle under tumuli or in sacred wells symbolising resurrection | Mnevis, Buchis, and Apis bull cults; bull sacrifice and rebirth in Sed-festival; cattle buried beneath early temples (e.g., Saqqara) | Kobusiewicz et al., J. African Archaeology 8(1) (2010); Applegate, Holocene Settlement (2001) |
| Ta-Seti / Qustul royal incense burners | 3800–3100 | Falcon-crowned king in palace façade (proto-serekh); divine kingship as mystery of resurrection | Horus-kingship ideology; king as “Horus who vindicates his father Osiris”; serekh becomes royal title in early Dynasties | Williams, The A-Group Royal Cemetery at Qustul (1986); Wilkinson, Early Dynastic Egypt (2001); Dreyer, MDAIK 55 (1999) |
| Tassili n’Ajjer & Acacus Mountains (Central Sahara: Algeria & southewest Libya) Round-Head art | 9000–5000 | Masked and horned shamanic figures; body painting; probable entheogenic mushroom imagery; ecstatic dance postures | Bes and Aha figures (masked protectors of rebirth); horned crowns of goddess (Hathor, Bat); ecstatic dance in Osirian dramas | Mori, The Great Circum-Saharan Culture (2000); Sansoni, Rock Art of Sahara (1994) |
| Badarian & Naqada I–II cosmology | 4400–3400 | Deliberate tomb orientation to Orion and Sirius; red-and-black colour duality; early Maat-feather amulets | Duat as stellar underworld; Orion is Osiris, Sirius is Isis; red crown (Deshret) vs “black land” (Kemet); Maat as central mystery | Hendrickx, Egypt at its Origins 2 (2008); Patch, Dawn of Egyptian Art (2011); Hart, Routledge Dictionary (2005) |
| Kerma & Upper Nubian tumulus cults | 4800–2500 | Tumulus graves with human and cattle sacrifice; lion and falcon symbolism | Lion as protector of the horizon (Aker, Ruty); falcon as Horus of Nubia; continued Nubian influence on 25th Dynasty mystery rites | Honegger, Sudan & Nubia 16 (2012); Török, Between Two Worlds (2009) |
| Hierakonpolis Predynastic elite cult | 3800–3400 | Scorpion-king mace-heads showing ritual performance; human sacrifice; early falcon cult | King as performer of the mysteries (Ikhernofret stela, Sesostris III); Sed-festival as continuation of Predynastic rites | Friedman, Egypt at its Origins 3 (2010); McNamara, JARCE 44 (2008) |
From this table we can understand the transmission of knowledge.
Astronomical and cattle cosmology was passed from Nabta Playa region (contains Africa’s oldest known astronomical stone alignment c. 6800-6000 BCE) into Badarian culture (earliest known farming culture in Upper Egypt along the Nile and modern Badari), Naqada period and culture, to Heliopolitan Ennead and Memphite theology down into the Pyramid Texts (stellar ascent, Apis/Mnevis cults). Divine kingship and resurrection ideology was passed from the Ta-Seti/Qustul to Hierakonpolis to the first Dynasties and through the Horus-Osiris mystery drama performed at Abydos in Upper Egypt from the Middle Kingdom onward.
Shamanic masking and ecstatic initiation originate from Central Saharan round-head tradition influencing the Bes/Aha figures, influencing protective masks in birth and rebirth rites, then it was continued into Greco-Roman Isis mysteries. Then, there is the concept of moral cosmic balance with the primordial goddess MAAT. The Badarian red-black duality and feather amulets influenced the 42 Negative Confessions. There is the judgment scene in Book of the Dead, which led to central initiatory requirements in all Egypt’s mystery schools.
Full of star lore and star-death mythology, the Khoisan-speaking peoples (genetically and linguistically the oldest diverging human populations still extant) preserve some of the most ancient continuously practiced spiritual-esoteric traditions left in our world. The Khoisan traditions demonstrate continuity of the deepest African spiritual substrate. Genetic, linguistic, and ethnographic evidence places their core practices in the same time-depth as the pre-3100 BCE African traditions that fed into ancient Egyptian mystery schools. The Khoisan lunar-menstrual-death-rebirth tradition is defined as structurally identical to the Isis-Osiris myth cycle.
The Khoisan traditions do not merely fit in with the history, they represent the depths of the same primordial African Wisdom Tradition that surfaces archaeologically at Nabta Playa (10,000 BCE), crystallizes in Ta-Seti and Predynastic Egypt (4000–3100 BCE), and is finally embodied in the Osirian mystery schools of Dynastic Egypt. Trance dance, dying-rising potency animal (from the eland to cattle and Apis), a three-tier cosmos and lunar-stellar rebirth cycle are Khoisan in origin and African in continuity. This tradition was carried northward over millennia into the Nile Valley long before any Egyptian state existed.
The consensus left on the subject is that important elements of early royal iconography originated in Nubia, not Egypt. The essential structures of Egyptian mystery religion such as: stellar rebirth, moral justification, and secret initiation are already present in Predynastic and early Dynastic times and owe their origin to indigenous African developments, according to Jan Assmann. Assmann argued for continuity from Predynastic funerary practices to Dynastic mystery cults, emphasizing indigenous African (Nilotic) roots over Asiatic influences in Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt (pp. 11-14, 2005). Editors David O’Connor & Andrew Reid argued in Ancient Egypt in Africa (p. 4, 2003) in their introductory thesis on Nubian-Sahara influences on Egyptian religion. Nubia and the southern Saharan cultures provided the ideological and symbolic foundations upon which Dynastic religion were built.
The mystery schools of the Dynastic period (earlier discussed Osirian dramas, Pyramid Texts, etc.) were not an original invention of 3100 BCE, but direct continuation and institutionalization of far older African primordial wisdom traditions that had been developing in the Nile Valley and Sahara for six to eight millennia beforehand revealing a fluid development. These represent the direct ancestors of those very Egyptian mystery schools that Greece, Phoenicia, and eventually the Mediterranean philosophers acknowledged as their source.
FOOTNOTES
- There are pre-Medieval esoteric-magic traditions that fed into or influenced Kabbalah, drawing from oral and initiatory roots, that Theosophy and Rabbinical tradition defend as pre-dating the 13th century. This alludes to: Merkavah and Hekhalot mysticism (2nd-8th centuries CE); the Sepher Yetzirah tradition (3rd-6th centuries CE) as the earliest Hebrew cosmological-mystical text revealing the sefirot as powers; the German Pietists (Hasidei Ashkenaz) in the 12th-13th centuries; pre-Kabbalaistic Provencal traditions (10th-12th centuries) that led to the Sefer ha-Behir text; references in the Talmud and Madras (3rd-6th centuries CE) in Tannaitic and Amoraic periods; and Geonic esoteric writings even held among Babylonian academies for esoteric study (8th-11th centuries). ↩︎
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