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REEXAMINING THE KAABA OF ISLAM

By Asar Imhotep (August 2, 2012)

The MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research

luntu/lumtu/muntu

In this essay we will suggest a more precise meaning of the name for the Islamic holy shrine known as the

Kaaba located in Mecca (Bekka) in the ‗Middle East‘. There have been attempts to connect the kaaba to

the ancient Egyptian spiritual concepts of the kA and the bA. This author finds these linguistic associations

to be the result of folk-etymology for reasons to be explained below. We find that there is an association

with Egyptian concepts, however, this term cannot be connected, linguistically, with the Egyptian kA and

bA. We suggest here that the word kaaba is simply a word for shrine. We turn to African languages to

support our suggestion. Before we get into the meat of our discussion, let‘s first take a look at what the

kaaba is and what it means for Muslims around the world.

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ABBREVIATIONS

PB Proto-Bantu

PWS Proto-Western Sudanic (Westermann)

PWN Proto-Western Nigritic (Mukarvosky)

PNC Informal. No systematic reconstruction available

PCS Proto-Central Sudanic (Bender)

PAA Proto-Afro-Asiatic (Ehret, Diakonoff)

PPAB Proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu (Stewart)

Bantu Proto-Bantu (Meeussen, Meinhof)

BANTU Common Bantu (Guthrie)

“Bantu” Bantu & Semi-Bantu (Johnston)

A-A Afro-Asiatic (Diakonoff, Ehret, Greenberg)

ES Eastern-Sudanic (Greenberg)

CS Central-Sudanic (Greenberg)

CN Chari-Nile (Greenberg)

NS Nilo-Saharan (Greenberg)

[I have used Greenberg’s abbreviations (numbers & letters in brackets) to identify languages].

N-C Niger-Congo

Mande B Banbara, D Dioula, M Malinke (Delafosse, Westermann)

TogoR Togo Remnant (Heine)

Polyglotta Koelle’s Polyglotta Africana

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THE KAABA

The Kaaba (or Qaaba; Arabic: بة كع ‎ al-Kaʿbah IPA: [ʔælال ˈ kæʕbɐ]; English: The Cube) is a cuboid-

shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an (the Muslim

Holy book) states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham and his son Ishmael after they were to

have settled in Arabia. During prayers all Muslims face towards the Kaaba and this act is called Qibla in

Arabic.

There are five pillars of Islam and one of those pillars requires Muslims to perform the Hajj1

pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime if able to do so to the city of Mecca. Once there, they are to

walk around the Kaaba seven times counter-clockwise (as viewed from above). This act is called the

Tawaf and is performed by pilgrims during the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage).

Before Islam, the Ka'aba was an important shrine, and perhaps a source of pilgrimage for many

in the Arabic world. The early Arabs worshipped many deities, usually local ancestral 'gods', and inside

the Kaaba were housed many of the representative statues or idols. Since the Kaaba was allegedly built

by Abraham, it was meant to be a place of worship of Allah only, according to Muslim doctrine. When

the Prophet Muhammad first began to preach in Mecca, he advocated for the removal of the other idols in

the Kaaba which led to them being thrown out after Muhammad's return to Mecca after his exile in

Medina.

Of particular interest in the Kaaba, to certain Islamic sects, is a black cornerstone surrounded by

silver. To some Muslims, the stone is merely a point of reference in counting the ritual circling of the

Kaaba during the Hajj. Others believe the stone was discovered by Abraham and Ishmael, and

1 The Arabic word hajj ―pilgrimage‖ is cognate with Hebrew Hag ―pilgrim feast, pilgrimage festival‖ (plural Hagg-

iym); Egyptian wAg ―religious festival‖; Freetown Creole à-wùjọ ―family cook‖ (Yorùbá àwùjọ ―assembly‖); Bini

ugie ―festival.‖

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specifically placed there. It is known that many prior to the advent of Islam worshipped the stone. Some

Islamic sects still revere it as having been important to Muhammad and perhaps once kissed by him.

It is believed that the word Kaaba derives from the word muka’ab ―cube.‖ The etymological

online dictionary states that the word kaaba derives from: 1734, Caaba, cube-shaped building in the

Great Mosque of Mecca, containing the Black Stone, from Arabic ka'bah "square house," from ka'b

"cube." One website argues that the word kaaba in Arabic means a ―high place with respect and prestige.”2

I believe this is partially correct, but is a secondary, maybe even a tertiary meaning as we will see below.

A popular Muslim name for men is Ka’b, however it doesn‘t mean ―cube,‖ but ―glory.‖ This seems to be

a contraction of kabbara ―to glorify [God], to magnify, to exalt [Him].‖

A LINGUISTIC ASSESSMENT

There have been several attempts to connect the word Kaaba to two ancient Egyptian spiritual

conceptualizations known as the kA (vital force, life-creating force, essence (of being)) and the bA (soul,

animation, spiritual manifestation). The earliest suggestion comes from the late Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop in

his work The Cultural Unity of Black Africa (1989: 89) where he states:

It is remarkable that many Arabic religious terms can be obtained by a simple

combination of the three Egyptian ontological notions, Ba, Ra, Ka. As examples we can

cite:

KABAR (a) = The action of raising the arms in prayer

RAKA = The action of placing the forehead on the ground

KAABA = The holy place of Mecca

However, Diop doesn‘t make the statement that the word kaaba in Arabic is composed of Egyptian kA and

bA. He just states that one can take these morphemes and create words in the Arabic language. However,

Dr. Wesley Muhammad in his book Egyptian Sacred Science and Islam: A Reappraisal (2012) attempts

to make such a suggestion.3

Here Muhammad builds off the suggestion made by Diop (1989) and attempts to associate the

concepts of the kA and bA with the concepts of the black stone (also known as kaaba) and the cubed

structure surrounding the stone (bayt Allah, ―house of Allah‖) (Muhammad, 2012: 28). He equates the kA with the statues of Egypt and further associates it with the cubed-structure, while the bA is associated with

the black-stone. Therefore, in essence, the Islamic Kaaba, for Muhammad, is representative and

composed of the kA ―house‖ and the bA ―soul/spirit‖ of the Divine which represents the primordial waters

and a piece of the black-body of the Divine itself.

There are several problems with this approach to figuring out the nature of the term Kaaba in the

Arabic language. Firstly, Muhammad violated a critical epistemological principle in linguistics which

requires that when a lexical cognate is suggested between two or more languages, the words under

comparison must ―stand on two legs.‖ That is to say that the words both match in form and meaning.

The form refers to the structure of the consonants that make up a term. So for instance the word

―bat‖ is composed of the letters b-t. If we wanted to find cognate terms in another language for the word

―bat‖ in English, we would first compare the consonants b-t, or for any morphological mutations in the

sounds. Consonants are more stable and less subject to change over time in comparison to vowels; so the

2 http://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/kaaba.htm 3 There is a print version of this book. I currently have the eBook version and am not sure if anything has changed

between the print and the electronic versions. But I think the print version is a much more expanded version than the

pdf.

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first thing we examine is the consonantal skeleton of a word knowing that vowels change more easily.

Let‘s look at a few examples from the Indo-European languages.

Table 1: Indo-European comparisons Sanskrit Avestan Greek Latin Gothic English

pita pater pater fadar father

padam poda pedem fotu foot

bhratar phrater frater brothar brother

bharami barami phero fero baira bear

jivah jivo wiwos qius quick

('living')

sanah hano henee senex sinista senile

virah viro wir wair were(wolf)

('man')

tris tres thri three

deka decem taihun ten

satem he-katon centum hund(rath) hundred

Let‘s take for instance the first row of the table above for ―father.‖ The vast majority of the words in that

row consist of three consonants: p-t-r. We see that there are some sound changes when we get to Gothic

and English where the /p/ becomes /f/ [p>f ]. The final /r/ sound in the other entries is totally missing

from the equation in Sanskrit. The study of phonology is way beyond the scope of this essay and it will

not be covered here. But what we can say is that based on the words being compared above, these terms

are cognate (come from the same parent).

The words pita, pater, fader and father are cognate terms because they ―stand on two legs.‖ That

means they share the same consonants (or corresponding consonant due to sound mutation) in the same

positions of the words and they all have the same general meaning, ―a male parent.‖ So in the C1 (1st

consonant) position we have either /p/ or an /f/ sound which are known mutations of each other in

historically attested languages. In the C2 position we have /d/, /t/ or /th/ and these sounds are also common

mutations of each other. And finally in the consonant final position, with the exception of the Sanskrit

example, lies the /r/ sound [p-t; p-t-r; f-d-r; f-th-r].

Let us now look at a few examples from Africa. The following basic vocabulary examples

compare some Proto-Bantu (PB) reconstructions4 with one or more continental African terms as well as a

corresponding word in the ancient Sumerian language. We want to know if Sumerian and Bantu share

basic vocabulary terms to determine if we can move forward with other analyses to determineif these two

languages are related. Proto-reconstructions are marked with the asterisk [*] in front of the word.

Table 2: Sumerian and Niger-Congo comparisons5 *-beede

i-bal

ubar

breast

breast

breast

PB

Konyagi (North Atlantic)

Sumerian

*-bodo

-bollo

-foro

-foto

bur

penis

penis

penis

penis

crotch

PB

Kisi (S. Atlantic)

Bambara (Mande)

Mandinka (Mande)

Sumerian

4 The Proto-Bantu examples are taken from the BLR3 Database. 5 Taken from Fari Supiya‘s article ―Afterword: Where from Here?‖ in Robin Walker, When We Ruled: The Ancient

and Medieval History of Black Civiliations, Black Classic Press. Baltimore, MD., 2006, pp. 666-668.

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*-ciici

sisindgo

kisi

ant

ant

ant

PB

Kisi

Sumerian

*-cUb-

suuwo

sub

to rub

to rub

to rub

PB

Kisi

Sumerian

*-dl-

dio

di

lekk

rig6

eat

eat

eat

eat

eat

PB

Kisi

Ewe (Kwa)

Wolof (North Atlantic)

Sumerian

*-dongo

longio

dug

pot

cooking pot

pot

PB

Kisi

Sumerian

*-dug-

louwo

digi

rig

to boil; be cooked

be cooked

be cooked, to boil

to boil down

PB

Kisi

Buli (Gur)

Sumerian

*-jijIb

sebi

jibe

jube

zu

to know

to know

to know

to know

to know

PB

Buli

Mandika

Mandika

Sumerian

*-cUki

cokk

kok

siki

hair

public hair

hair

hair

PB

Wolof

Buli

Sumerian

*-co-

so

su

sunset

sunset

to go down, sink

PB

Wolof

Sumerian

*-gend-

genn

g-en

to go

to go, come

to go

PB

Wolof

Sumerian

*-nyo-

naan

nwong

nag~7

to drink

to drink

to drink

to drink

PB

Wolof

Efik (Lower Cross)

Sumerian

*-kodi-

cooli, ceeli

koli

kudei~

hurin

Bird of prey; hawk

kite

hawk

kite

eagle

PB

Wolof

Akan (Kwa)

Proto-Ijoid

Sumerian

*-cad-

chali

sar

to hurry

to run; rush

to run, hasten

PB

Buli

Sumerian

*-mUd-Ik-

moolim

mole

mul

to shine; give light

to shine excessively

to be bright

to shine, radiate

PB

Buli

Yorùbá

Sumerian

-*med-o

mI~I~I

meli

throat

throat

neck

PB

Proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu

Sumerian

6 The sounds /d/, /l/ and /r/ are common sound mutations of each other in Kongo-Saharan languages. 7 The [~] symbol means that the previous sound has been nasalized.

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As we can see from the examples above, the Proto-Bantu and Sumerian languages share many basic

vocabulary terms. These items match in both form and meaning. When it comes to comparing the

Egyptian terms (kA, bA) and the Arabic kaaba/ka’ba/ka’bah/, no such analysis had taken place by either

Diop or Muhammad. Without these preliminary steps being taken, one is almost always assured to end up

in the pit of folk-etymology and that is exactly the case here.

We have to ask ourselves, ―Did the Egyptians have a term kAbA and does it mean the same thing

(or something similar) as the Arabic word kaaba?‖ We find no such combination in the Egyptian records.

The words kA and bA are two separate conceptualizations and were never, at least to this author‘s

recollection, brought together to create a greater concept (like the word blackbird in English: black +

bird). Secondly, although many in Egyptology pronounce the /A/ sound as an [a], it was actually, at least

initially, pronounced as an /l/ sound. So the kA wasn‘t originally ka, but k-l (kala?); the same with bA (b-l).

Alain Anselin, in his article ―Some Notes about an Early African Pool of Cultures from which

Emerged the Egyptian Civilisation‖ (Exell, 2011: 49),8 provides some examples of this phenomenon in

compared African languages with Egyptian. He starts off with one of the very words under examination,

the bA, symbolized by a bird with a human head .

b39 < *b-l, ‗soul‘ (Old Kingdom; Wb I, 411; on the identification of /3/ as /l/, see above and

Anselin 2007a): West Chadic (Nigeria): Angas-sura: bĕl, ‗reason, sense, to be wise, intelligence,

understanding‘ (Takács 2004, 31); Central Chadic: Matakam (Cameroon): *bl, ‗genius, spirit,

mboko‘, belbele-hay, ‗genius‘; Niger-Congo: Fulfulde (Cameroon): ηbeelu (ηgu), ‗principe vital

de l‘homme – menacé d‘être dévoré par les mangeurs d‘âme‘ (Noye 1989, 40; see also, Anselin

2007b, 92); Semitic: *bāl, ‗spirit, mind‘; Aramaic: bl, ‗spirit, intelligence‘; Northern Syriac: bālā,

‗reason, attention‘; Arabic: bāl, ‗attention, consciousness, mind‘ (Takács 2001, 6).

si3 <*s-r, ‗to understand, know > god of the knowledge‘ (Old Kingdom; Wb IV 30, 1-21), written

with the hieroglyph of the cloth (Gardiner S32); si3.t, (Pyramid Texts; Coffin Texts variant, sr3.t,

identifying /i/ as a reflex of /r/): Central Chadic: Mofu-gudur: sǝr, ‗to know‘ (Barreteau 1988,

198); Merey: sǝr, ‗to know‘ (Gravina et al. 2003); Udlam: -sǝr, ‗to know‘ (Kinnaird and Oumate

2003); Muyang: sǝr, ‗to get to know‘ (Smith 2003).

m33 < *mVl, ‗to see, look, examine‘ (Old Kingdom; Wb II 7, 1-10, 7), phonetically written with

the hieroglyph of the sickle (Gardiner U1), the phonetic complement of the vulture (Gardiner G1)

or the determinative of the eye (Gardiner D4) (Kahl 2004, 166-7): Cushitic: Agaw: Bilin: miliʡy-,

‗to look, examine‘; Kemant: mel-, ‗to examine, observe‘; Eastern Cushitic: Oromo: mal-, ‗to

think‘; Sidamo: mal-, ‗to perceive, advise‘; Somali: mala, ‗thought‘; Burji: mala, ‗plan‘ (Anselin

2001). Omotic: Wolamo: mil, ‗to believe‘; Kafa: mallet, ‗to observe‘ (Dolgopolsky 1973, 180).

A similar exercise can be done with kA. The kA was signified by a pair of hands or arms raised . The

hands and/or arms, however, in African languages is pronounced ka, but you often find it with an -l suffix

like we do in Egyptian.

ARM Sumerian á ―arm, strength‖

KA “arm”, “strength”

PWS ka, bua (ba) ―arm‖ [BU = β] Sumerian kalag ―strong‖

8 Keren Exell (Ed.). (2011). Egypt in its African Context: Proceedings of the conference held at The Manchester

Museum, University of Manchester, 2-4 October 2009.Hadrian Books, Ltd. Oxford. 9 The bA ―soul‖ is symbolized by a bird (a turtle dove) and the ―soul‖ carries the same consonant cluster set as the

word for ―bird‖ in African languages: e.g., Western Chadic: Bole: mbólé, Mupun, Sura: mbul, Angas, bul, Ankwe:

Nice, Karekare: bélawi, oriental Chadic: Gabri: bélu, bird, Bidiya: bálya, dove. PChadic: *mbul, dove.

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PWS gua ―hand‖

PWS ka ―hand‖, Indiki ne-kara ―hand‖

C-loss [k > h or b > v] Sumerian a5, aka ―make‖

PWN BUAK, GWAL, KA (KYA), KWÁN ―arm‖ Sumerian Á-KAL ―strength‖

Bantu gado ―arm‖, bóko ―arm‖

Bantu ka ―hand‖ Sumerian áh, ahi ―arm strength‖

Sumerian ĝar ―to place‖

Holoholo bokó ―arm‖, kal’ ―to cut‖

Mande bolo, bolo-kala, kãmba-kala ―arm‖, wa ―arm, strength‖

ES Didinga kalkic ―armpit‖, kom ―be strong‖

*K = # *A = a *B = # *A = a

This would inform us that the pronunciation of kaaba would have been something more along the lines of

#kalabala (kabala?).10 The /l/ sound is known to morph into /t/, /d/ and /n/, so we would have to keep that

in mind when doing comparisons in other languages (e.g., b-l > b-t or b-n).

In addition to the concerns above, there was no attempt to define the word Kaaba in Arabic. One

has to at least acknowledge the commonly accepted meaning of a term before one can propose an

alternative. Without Diop and Muhammad providing a definition for the word, one cannot suggest that it

shares a cognate relationship with another term in another language. As was stated earlier, a cognate

stands on two legs: form and meaning. If you have only a form match, and no meaning match, then it is

not acceptable as a cognate term. With that said, I would like to now propose an alternative meaning and

corresponding term in the Egyptian language for the Arabic word and concept known as Kaaba.

A REEVALUATION

We noted that the Kaaba is a cubed-shaped structure which houses the black-stone believed to be a piece

of the primordial black-body of Allah (the God of the Muslims). It is believed that the very word ―cube‖

in English derives from the Arabic term. When looking for cognate terms for the word ―cube‖ in known

Semitic dictionaries, nothing came up. This could either mean that this term is an innovation in the Arabic

language, or that ―cube‖ was not the original meaning of the term. In other words, the definition ―cube‖

came about from some other process (e.g., metaphoric extension).

Another source above stated that the word kaaba meant ―high place with respect and prestige.‖

This would seem to fall in line with the Arabic name Ka’b meaning ―glory.‖ This may provide a more

solid base from which to work as the Kaaba is a sacred monument where they give honor and glory to the

Divine.

Wesley Muhammad (2012) stresses that the word Kaaba is to be associated with the black-stone

primarily, and with the cubed structure getting a secondary association. But it is my contention that the

structure (the bayt illah) was actually named kaaba, with a secondary association transferring to the

black-stone (hajar al-aswad, ―stone the-black/the black stone‖). Otherwise, all stones (or black-stones) in

Arabic would simply be called kaaba. The word for stone in Arabic is: (hajar حجر / hajara حجرة; rock =

sakhr صخر / sakhra صخرة .11

Since the Semitic languages were not helping me out along the ―cubed‖ or equivalent conceptual

angle, I decided to look at the Egyptian motifs to see if they had any similar type of shrines (shape and in

function wise), and if they did, did those shrines have the same (or similar) name as the Arabic kaaba?

10 The # symbol signifies a ‗psuedo‘ reconstruction; not one based on the result of a lengthy process using the

comparative method. 11 This is where we get the name Saqqara from, for which the modern Arabs named the city which houses the

world‘s first stone monument, the step-pyramid, designed by the architect Imhotep for King Djoser during the III

Dynasty (~2700 BCE).

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More importantly, what did the term associated with those shrines actually mean in the Egyptian

language?

We come to find out that the Egyptians, since the very beginning of their civilization, has had

numerous ―cubed-shaped‖ shrines which housed some representation of a deity or ancestor. An example

from the Ptolemaic period can be seen below.

This is a rare example of a portable shrine that was used by Egyptian priests to carry images of

deities in various ceremonies within the temple and on voyages outside the temple during specific

festivals. Such shrines are depicted in carved reliefs dating to the Ptolemaic period (305–30

B.C.E.), but few actual examples have survived. The deity in the shrine could be represented by a

cult statue or by a living or mummified animal.

The shrine is elaborately decorated with painted scenes of deities and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The sides depict the eight gods of creation, which were closely associated with the cult site of the

god Thoth at Hermopolis Magna. The ibis-headed god Thoth is himself represented on one door,

and the falcon-headed god Horus on the other. Both doors also depict a kneeling king, indicating

that this shrine was a royal commission.12

One of the most famous Egyptian shrines is

that of the step pyramid of Saqqara, which

itself is several ―cubed‖ or rectangular block

layers of stone stacked on top of each other;

each layer getting smaller in size the higher

one goes up. This was designed by the great

Imhotep, vizier to King (nsw bit) Djoser,

during the III Dynastic period.

There was no need to house a rock

in this structure because the whole

monument was made out of stone. Cubed

shrines came in all types of sizes. But the

vast majority of the Egyptian cubed shrines were small enough to carry. An example can be seen below.

12 http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/singleObject.cfm?ObjectNumber=F1907.4a-g

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Priest Pen-Maat Holding a Shrine; 746 and 335 BC (Late Period)

Outermost Golden Shrine (Tutankhamen, 18th Dynasty): This shrine, which housed all of the

remaining shrines, sarcophagus, coffins and mummy, almost filled the entire room of King Tut‘s

tomb. It is about nine feet high and sixteen feet long. The shrine is decorated with the double-

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tiered knot of Isis and the djed (the backbone of Osiris, representing stability). There also are

hieroglyphs of Osiris on the case. This shrine is on display in the Cairo Museum.13

Many more examples can be shown, but it is abundantly clear that the cube-shaped shrine was a staple in

ancient Egyptian religious motifs. We have established that the Egyptians indeed used cubed-shaped

structures as shrines in ancient times. The question now is, ―What were these shrines called?‖

The Egyptians had several words for shrine. They can be listed as follows:

sAH ―shrine, palanquin‖

sHDt "chest (for clothes), shrine (for image of a god)"

swHt "shrine, shroud"

HD "chapel, wooden shrine, abode of the gods"

snwt "shrine"

kAr "shrine, naos"

gAit "chapel, portable shrine"

gAti "shrine"

gt "shrine"

sSdt "shrine" (of falcon)

xm "shrine"

sH nTr "God's Booth (of Anubis - an embalmer's workshop), shrine"

sH "shrine"

st wrt "Great throne, sanctum, cult shrine, base for cult building"

nxn "shrine"

sxm "shrine, place of worship"

pr n sTA "portable chest, portable shrine"

pr wab "statue niche, shrine"

nS "shrine"

qniw ―portable shrine, chapel, armchair"

tA nnt "shrine"

itrt "row (of niches, of men, of shrubs), niche, shrine, shawabti box"

xsm "shrine"

fAyt "portable shrine"

wryt "shrine, holy place"

iwnn "shrine, sanctuary, residence, pillared hall (iwnyt)"

dbr "god's shrine, sanctuary"

rmn "processional shrine"

r pr "temple, chapel, shrine"

rpwt "shrine" (containing female statue), "female statue"

None of these terms immediately stand out as a potential cognate match for the Arabic word kaaba.

However, by reexamining an Arabic dictionary entry for k-a-b may shed some light on the subject and

may lead us in the right direction.

We mentioned earlier one source that stated that the word ka’bah meant ―square house.‖ This

may indicate that the meaning has nothing to do with the shape of the shrine, but with the function of the

shrine. In the Arabic-English Dictionary (2008) we have the following entry.

13 http://albertis-window.com/category/egyptian/

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This entry is immediately followed by the following:

The first entry notes that the word ka’ba has three forms: kaabayn, aal-kaabatu and kawaaib. The second

entry, aal-kaabatu, is the one that is most informative for us. It gives the definition of a ―sacred house‖ and

it is from this which we shall pursue a correspondence in Egyptian.

AN EGYPTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Because the Kaaba is described as a ―house,‖ we are then looking for a term that has to deal with an

―enclosure‖ or something that ―envelopes‖ a ―space.‖ It is my argument that the root of the word kaaba is

-b- which has to deal with a ―place, location.‖ The k- morpheme is a prefix that has been fossilized in

Arabic. Let‘s look at some Egyptian examples to support this assumption. We begin with the following:

b/bw ―place, abode‖

ab ―sanctuary, shrine, relic‖ Wb I S 176

ibt ―walled enclosure, cave, abode, rest-house‖

Abt ―sanctuary, shrine, holy place‖

bt ―house, clan, family‖

sbti ―walled enclosure‖

The Egyptian bw ―place‖ (e.g., bw maa ―place of truth‖) is cognate with Bantu bu/bo ―place‖ (e.g., Bu-

ganda ―Place of the Baganda‖; Bu-rundi ―Place of the Barundi‖; Bo-tswana ―Place of the Batswana‖),

Ijebu-Yorùbá u-bo ―place‖ (ubo-k-úbo ―any place,‖ i.e., anywhere), Koine-Yorùbá i-bi and Igbo e-be

―place‖; Hebrew be ―in‖ (i.e., in a place).

What the entries above are telling us is that a shrine is simply a ―sacred space.‖ It is a location or

object reserved for spirit. The word for shrine is simply a metaphorically-extended word for house. In

Egyptian, often, we find that b<>p; that is to say that the /b/ and /p/ sounds interchange. In many cases we

get extended meanings with the different sound changes. For instance:

ipt ―house, dwelling, place‖

ipt "harem, apartment, chamber, shrine, quarters, chapel"

ipt "luxor" (the temple)

ipt "harem"

aAwy pt "shrine"

Hwt pat "Mansion of the Patricians (a shrine)"

msTpt "portable shrine"

stpt "shrine, sanctuary" (of Thoth)

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As we can see here, b/bt and pt are variations of each other. Many who are familiar with the ancient

Egyptian language may assume that the final -t is feminine, but I argue that this is not the case. The

Egyptian /A/ sound was originally an /l/ (/r/) and it is this sound that morphed into /t/ in some dialects of

the original language.14 We know this by examining other related languages. Before we give some

examples, we must demonstrate that there is also a bA variation of the terms above.

bA tA "locality, site"

bA/br "necropolis, (stone) area"

abAt/abAyt "altar"

abA "offering stone, memorial stone, altar"

An altar is simply a shrine where votive offerings are made. Again, the root is -b- and the -r, -l, and -t

morphemes are suffixes to the root. The word for shrine in Egyptian derives from a root that means

―place, house, walled enclosure.‖ In our first set of examples for the word ―shrine‖ in Egyptian, when

examining the actual hieroglyphs, we notice that the vast majority of the terms cited were terminated by

the Gardiner O1 determinative and this sign represents the consonant cluster p-r. This is the

standard glyph for a ―walled enclosure, place or house‖ in the Egyptian writing script. The word pr can

mean ―locality, site, cavern, hole, house, household, palace, temple, field, sportsfield, estate."

The ciLubà-Bantu language sheds light on our terms from above. The Egyptian word ip "allot,

allocate, assign" is a shortened variation of the word pr and in ciLubà pr goes through a series of

morphologies: bala/wala/vala/pala> ci-badi, di-bala / -vala; pala > paulula, palala, padika; dipala. The

underlying premise denotes ―a technique of enumeration and classification, to separate the elements, to

keep them apart, spaces, differentiated, at a distance.‖ In other words, it denotes distinction, signification,

a niche. It is related to the word tapululu "available separately, divided into different categories, sort,

classify." This is further expanded into tapu; nta-pu "diversity, difference, division"; pempa [a sense of]

"equalizing, to trim, cut at equal lengths."

These are the underlying themes embedded in the pr glyph which we find in many of our

words for shrine, which in essence, is simply ―designated/allotted (ip) sacred space.‖ This ―space‖ is that

which has been ―walled off‖ or ―enclosed‖ in a particular manner to serve some spiritual function. This

idea of designated space is then transferred to the concept of ―home‖ and these ideas are reflected in the

following ciLubà terms:

Egyptian bt / bait / biti (a) "Mainson, house"15

mbidi "house-attic, store (-room, -house)"

cibumba "case for the dead or spiritism, for bA (-moyo)"

-buta "hiding"

dibuta "bank, store"

cibuta / mbuta "satchel, suitcase bag"

cibombi "bag, which conceals or covers"

bita "covered area"

cibiba "hiding"

Betu "residential area, a place to sleep"

cibu / cibuwa "partition wall" (cibuwidi / mbuwidi)

bita "barriers", "handcuffs"

cibwita "hiding"

badi "wardrobe" (ka-badi)

bwadi "mask envelope"

bwiti "close" (the holm)

14 r/l/d/t are common sound shifts (so is r/l/n). 15 See Georg Ebers Aegypten und die Bucher Mose's: sachlicher Commentar zu den aegyptischen Stellen in Genesis

und Exodus (1868: 44)

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ci-bobo "empty shell" (like a pea shell)

ma-bobo "former site of the village / city"

These terms go further and provide us with an underlying sense of ―closure‖ or to ―be enclosed.‖ The

concept of ―closing‖ is commonly represented by a door. We find that the word for ―door‖ often has the

same or similar spelling to the word for ―home.‖ We have the following examples to support this: PWS pí

―house‖, PWN BUDA, BHULA ―door‖; Bantu pito, bedo ―door‖; Igbo obube ―door.‖ It is the "door" (lid)

that "closes and conceals" a place.

The pr O1 determinative is also present in the Egyptian word dwA ―door, gate, pylon.‖ That

same glyph can also be pronounced sbA ―door, gate, pylon‖ (ciLubà cibèlu(o) ―entry, door, gate‖; ciibi

―door‖; mbelu ―door, house‖; kumbèlu(o) ―at home, in the home‖; pambèlu(o) ―at home, where you live

at‖; mfundu ―rear side of the home‖).16

The underlying premise is that the words with the p-t/p-r or b-t (b-d, b-l) root deal with being

"closed off" or "shut out" from something/someone or elements of some sort: to be separated from. We

know the -t in bt/bait ―house, family, clan‖ is not feminine because it is a morphological variation of the

word pr "house." Knowing this, I argue that the Egyptian word bA ―vase‖ falls into this same category as

pr/ipt/bt ―house‖ (A = l). Also the word pt ―sky, canopy, heaven, cover‖ falls into this category as

well because it ―envelopes and encloses‖ the earth from above.

Our terms above are cognate with Egyptian ibt ―walled enclosure, abode, cave, rest-house.‖ All

of these stem from a root bw that means ―place.‖ We can see the variations of this root in the following

African examples:

CITY [Mari] Sumerian Mari (city of)

MA “city” -r

PWS má ―city, town, people‖

TogoR *o-má ―city‖ (Heine 1968)

[PNC *ma ―mountain‖].

PWS bu ―hut‖

PWS ba ―be in a place‖ and PWS bia ―place‖ (ba).

PNC (Armstrong) ma(h) ―build‖ (mud house), Fula mah ―mud house‖, Bini má ―make pots or bricks‖, Tiv

màà ―build, mould‖

PWS ma, man ―to finish‖

Bantu ba ―courtyard, enclosure‖

Bamana bō ―house‖,

Mande suru-ma, kuru-ma ―courtyard‖, so-ba ―city‖

Mangbetu oma ―to assemble‖, bari ―village, enclosure‖

ES Midob tuma ―all‖

CN Kunama tumma ―all‖

[Mediterranean substrate ma ―hill‖, Maori marae ―raised meeting place‖]

[Presumably ma is a nasal grade of ba].

*M = m *A = a *D = r * I = i

The following reconstructions are taken from the Tower of Babel online Nostrotic database.

16 The Egyptian dwA.t was a place where the spirits of the deceased went after death. We could make the argument,

given the data above, that the dwA.t is synonymous with the word ―home.‖ If true, this idea would be mirrored in the

spiritual system of Ifa of the Yorùbá where we say, ―Heaven is our home. Earth is the market-place.‖

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Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *baw-/*bay-

Meaning: place, house

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

Berber: *bVw- 'enclosure'

Egyptian: bw 'place' (pyr)

Western Chadic: *bayi- 'place' 1, 'hut' 2

Central Chadic: *bi- 'place' 1,'hut' 2

East Chadic: *baHi- 'place' 1, 'hut' 2, 'fence' 3

High East Cushitic: *bay- 'place'

Notes: Related to *bay- 'build' and *bayit- 'house'?

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *bay-t-

Meaning: build; building, house

Semitic: *bayt- 'house'

Berber: *but- 'mud-house'

Western Chadic: *bay- 'build' ~ *bit- 'hut' 1, 'shelter' 2, 'place, room' 3

Central Chadic: *bi- 'build' ~ *bit- 'hut'

East Chadic: *bay- 'build'

Notes: Arabism in Ch is possible. Dgh bat-iwe "hut" < *bayVt-?

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *bi/ur-

Meaning: fortified place, dwelling

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

Semitic: *bīr- 'fortress, palace'

Western Chadic: *bi/ur- 'town' 1, 'place' 2, 'hut' 3

Central Chadic: *bur- 'town' 1, 'house' 2

Low East Cushitic: *bor- 'back (of a house)'

As we can see from above, /b/ is often nasal-graded into /m/; so ba and ma, here, have the same

connotation. We see this play out in Egyptian with the words: mAA ―sanctuary, shrine, holy relic‖ (Wb II S

11) and mait ―abode, dwelling, workshop‖ (Budge 278a). We know that the /A/ sound was an /l/ which

informs us that there should be an /r/ variation of the word mAA in the Egyptian hieroglyphs. I propose that

mAA is just a variation of the word mr (Coptic mere) ―pyramid, pyramid tomb‖ and that the word

mr should be interpreted to mean ―shrine, sanctuary, holy relic.‖ Egyptian mr is cognate with Yorùbá

bara ―royal mausoleum.‖17 Not all shrines are squared. Many are circular and triangular.

Giza Pyramids (mr) of Egypt

17 We should note that the m/b/f/v are common sound shifts. With that said, another variation of mr ―pyramid tomb‖

may be nfr.t ―grave, tomb, sepulcher.‖ Here n- is a prefix, m>b>f, and -t is a feminine suffix.

Page 16 of 28

G.I. Jones posing in front of a pyramid in Nsude village alusi/arunsi (shrine), Abaja, Northern Igbo-land Nigeria.

Photo taken in 1935.18

Nuer mound of Deng Kur, 200 kilometers north of the Kenya-Sudan boundary. Image by E.S. Crispin who visited

and photographed the pyramid as part of the Sudd cutting expedition along the White Nile during 1901-1902.

The last image above is a view of the mound built by the Nuer prophet Ngundeng (d.1906) at the end of

the nineteenth century, and added to by his son Gwek (d.1928), who also became a prophet. Seligman, in

his 1932 publication The Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan, describes it in his list as a grave pyramid,

possibly since he was informed that Ngundeng was buried within his hut at the base of the mound. At one

time the mound, known as Deng Kur and associated with the Dinka-originating cult of the spirit Deng19,

was furnished by elephant tusks around its 300-foot circumference, standing over 50 feet high. Made

from the baked earth, ashes and dung of old cattle camp floor layers, it became an important political

symbol of Nuer resistance to colonial rule, and was eventually bombed by the administration in 1928.

Continuing, there is added support for the notion that the Egyptian mr derives from the same root

as our terms above for ―shrine, house, etc.‖ Observe the following from the TOB database:

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *mar-

Meaning: house, building

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

Egyptian: mr 'pyramid' (OK)

18 Courtesy of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at University of Cambridge. 19 The Nuer name Deng is associated with their god of storms, lightning and thunder and is cognate with the Yorùbá

deity known as Ṣàngó, the god of lightning and thunder. See this author‘s upcoming publication Dyalusha-Dya-

ciKam: Rescue, Reinterpretation and Restoration of Major Egyptian Themes.

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Western Chadic: *mawar- 'roof'

East Chadic: *mawar- 'granary'

Central Cushitic (Agaw): *mar- 'yard'

Low East Cushitic: *mōr- 'manger' 1, 'home' 2

Warazi (Dullay): *mor- 'meeting area'

South Cushitic: *mar- 'house'

The pyramids were the home, meeting place of the divinities and ancestors (nTrw). This explains the

elaborate rituals carved on the pyramid walls known as the pyramid texts, which later gave rise to the Prt-m-Hrw ―Book of Coming Forth by Day‖ (or the ancestralization ritual book).20

This is good information, but how does all of this relate to concept of the Islamic Kaaba housed

in Mecca? This will be the focus of the remaining sections below.

DEFINING THE WORD KAABA

Thus far we have suggested that the word kaaba derives from a root -b- that means ―location, place,

house, walled structure, shrine.‖ We have taken examples from many African languages, but our

grounding has been in the ciLubà-Bantu and the Ancient Egyptian languages. Both ciLubà and Egyptian

have the word bw meaning ―place.‖ Also, both languages have variations on this root that include prefixes

and suffixes. We have not examined the variations of bw or bt/pt ―place‖ in ciLubà, but we will take a

look into that now.

In the ciLubà language, the /b/ in the -bw- root has three forms: aba, mu, and pa. The b, m, and p

sounds are known to morph into each other in Kongo-Saharan languages. These roots are usually not

isolated unto themselves, but exist with prefixes. So the root aba can be pronounced mw-aba, my-aba; ka-

aba, tw-aba. An expanded variation of the root aba is buloba/bulaba (<Egyptian bw-ra-bA) ―soil, land,

countries, region, domain‖ (Bilolo, 2011: 118). One can also reduplicate the terms: pa > papa, popo;

mu/mo > momu; mwa; munda.

From our first example we can see how the word Kaaba derives from bw(a,o). In ciLubà we have

the following:

mwaba ≋ kaaba

(A) place, location, area, site

(B) occasion, time, chance, opportunity

kushììla muntu Mwaba

(A) make room (make a way) for somebody

(B) mark of respect, have regard for somebody21

As we can see here it still retains its association with a ―place, location, area, or site.‖ The word kaaba in

ciLubà doesn‘t carry the connotation of a ―sacred space‖ (like a shrine), but it retains its spatial

association. The question now becomes, ―Can we find equivalent terms in the ancient Egyptian?‖

As a result of constantly engaging Egyptian texts and examining Egyptian words and comparing

them to cognate terms in other African languages, I note that often the /k/ sound in Kongo-Saharan

languages (especially Bantu) corresponds with the /H/ sound in the Egyptian. In this case, my first step

would be to see if the ciLubà k-b root corresponds with an Egyptian Hb root, and we find out that this is

the case. But before we go that route, we must demonstrate that the ciLubà /k/ does in fact correspond

with the Egyptian /H/.

20 See my article ―Prt-M-Hrw: Reinterpretations,‖ available on my website,

http://www.asarimhotep.com/index.php/articles/26-prt-m-hrw-reinterpretations-wupdate 21 http://www.ciyem.ugent.be

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Table 3: Lexical Correspondences with Egyptian /H/ and ciLubà Velar /k/ initial, and alveolar liquid /r/ with ciLubà

/l/ in the secondary position

Egyptian /h/ ciLubà /k/

Hrw ―mountain‖ mu-kuna ―mountain‖ (ciLubà) [l>n]

Hrw ―top, upper‖ kale, kule, kulu ―top, upper, highest‖

Hrw ―heavens, sky‖ kulu ―heavens, sky‖

Hrw ―hawk, bird‖ (tnHr) [Coptic haliit ―bird,

kite‖)

Nkulu, Nkole, Ngal, nGole, Cyal, Kal; ciKololo

―hawk, bird, raven‖ (also ―prominent man‖)

Hrw ―be cut when ripe‖ (of corn) kole ―ripe, mature, grow (<kola)‖

H33 r ―to decide‖ kàla ―decide at once‖

Hrw ―those above‖ (in heavens, especially of

the stars)

kulu ―ancestors‖

xrpw ―director, governor, chiefs, foremen,

wardens, superiors, overseer of the landlords" Mukulu (pukùlù, tukùlù) ―Elder, old,

grandfather, Chief, Director, President (Mukulu

wa Cipangu Parish Council President), principal

wife of a polygamist‖; Kùlula ―use, age‖ (V:-

Kulu, kùlumpa-[l + i> di] ⇒-sèlela;22

Hrw ―be quiet, at peace‖

grw ―silent‖ Wb V S 180

le-kela, kua-kala ―silence, quiet‖,

hola ―silent, peace, quiet‖,

akula ―quiet‖

hr "be pleasing, soothing, to be continent" Kalolo: goodness, amiability, kindness,

attractiveness, obedience, fairness, justice,

honesty, integrity, faithfulness, gentleness,

humanity, humility, modesty, reverence,

tracetableness, meekness, docility, deference,

civility, decorum, politeness, courtesy.

-a kalolo: good, amiable, kind, attractive,

obedient, fair, just, honest, faithful, gentle,

humane, humble, modest, reverent, tractable,

meek, docile, deferential, decorous, courteous,

polite, civil.

Hrw ―be pleased, be satisfied, be content‖ mu-hole (<hola) ―satisfied, content‖

kh ―difficult, strong, wild‖ hale (also kule) ―to be crazy, deranged, wild,

foolish, mad, reckless, vicious, violent‖ (to

become…<hala)

kni (qni) “mighty, capable, active, strong,

valiant, conquer, eager‖

Hr ―terror, dread‖

r Hr ―combat‖

Hr ―anguish, agony, fear‖

kale, kala23

: to be strong, strong, well, vigorous,

arduous, firm, steady, solid, hard, immovable,

fixed, steadfast, powerful, robust, tough (as

meat), violent, severe, serious (matter),

hrw ―voice, sound, noise‖ cy-ono ―noise, snoring‖

lw-ono ―noise‖

kale ―loud voice‖

orò, ariwo (Yorùbá) ―roar, noise‖ Hrw―battle, war‖

xrw.yt―war‖

xrw.yt ―war‖

bu-kole ―force, energy, strength‖

kola ―become difficult, hard, force, energy,

strengthen‖

22 Egyptian xrpw ultimately derives from a root cognate with ciLuba: -kùlumpa (-kùlapa, -kùlaba) "growing up,

growing older, aging"; -kùlakaja "age"; -kùlula "use, wear, age"; -kùlumpè(à) "adult" ☛ Syn.: -kolè(à). Remember

that elders were the leaders of traditional communities and their titles were just words that reflected an elder‘s ―age.‖ 23 It should be noted that within ciLuba, the /l/ is often interchangeable with /m/. The ciLuba /l/ corresponds to

Egyptian /m/ and /n/ as well.

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xrwyw ―war, rebellion, revolt‖

kn ―brave man, hero, soldier, mighty, capable,

active‖

Kanda ―prohibit, prevent, defend, be blocked, ‖

kala ―strength, power‖

nkama ―force, might, power, strength‖

Hrw [drink] Wb III S 148 nwa ―drink‖ [r>n] (elision of k- prefix?)

munù≋munwì ―drinker‖

-pùùkila ―absorb, drink‖ (pùù- ―diminutive‖)

Hrw ―apart from‖ Wb III S 146 Mu-kàlu ―boundary line, border, limit‖

Sound correspondences

Egyptian /H/ = ciLubà /k/24

Egyptian /H/ = ciLubà /h/

Egyptian /r/ = ciLubà /l/

Egyptian /r/ = ciLubà /n/

Egyptian /n/ = ciLubà /n/

So with that established, we note the following terms in Egyptian:

Hbt/HbiAt "niche" (in house, tomb);25

Hbt "altar, festival kiosk, niche";

Xry Hbt "Lector Priest"

Hbt "ritual book, festival roll, festival rules"

Hbt ―part of a tomb‖ Wb III S 62

Remember the variations of bw include bt/pt/ibt/ipt. We know the H- is a prefix because of the following

words:

abt "a funerary ritual object"

abt "a container"

I would also include in this set: Abt "family, kin, tribe, parents, Greater Family.‖ In indigenous cultures,

the word for ―house‖ is the same word for ―family‖ (e.g., Egyptian bt ―house, family, clan‖). We are

familiar with this concept through the Biblical text where the ―chosen people‖ of God is known as being

the descendants of the ―House of David.‖26

The Arabic word kaaba, we argue, is cognate with Egyptian Hbt without the final -t suffix. The

Kaaba is an altar that once was the center of worship of many ‗deities‘, but now is the sole shrine of

Allah. It is a container that houses the black-stone. All Kaaba technically means is ―house‖ and this can

be seen with a set of reconstructions from the TOB database that is closer to the pronunciation of kaaba

(b>p):

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *kaʔup-

Meaning: house

Semitic: *kupp- 'building'

Egyptian: kp 'house' (MK)

Western Chadic: *kap(VH)- 'hut'

Central Chadic: *kup- 'house'

Notes: Connected with *kaʔup- 'cover, close'?

24 We can also argue for an Egyptian /g/ = ciLuba /k/. 25 A niche = ―a place, slot, position, function, role‖; a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing: 26 For example, Isaiah 7:2 ―Now the house of David was told, "Aram has allied itself with Ephraim"; so the hearts of

Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.‖

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We noted that /b/ and /p/ interchange and this appears to be the case here in our examples above.

Remember the Arabic word k-a-b means ―square house‖ and as we can see, our two compared terms

―stand on two legs.‖

Arabic kaaba ―square house‖

Egyptian kp ―house‖

Arabic kaaba ―high place with respect and prestige‖

Arabic ka’b ―glory‖

Egyptian Hbt "altar, festival kiosk, niche";

We can get some additional insights into the concept of the Kaaba by examining cognate terms in the

Yorùbá language as it pertains to the spiritual system of Ifa. Given all that we have discussed thus far, the

following terms are relevant to this discussion:

Yorùbá:

ojúbọ òríṣa, ilé òríṣà ―shrine‖

ibi, ipó, ubo ―place‖

pẹpẹ ―altar‖

ebute ―landing place, harbor, wharf‖

bò ―to cover, to hide, to overwhelm‖

The most relevant term for us now is the Yorùbá word ojúbọ ―shrine.‖27 Awo Falokun, a Babalawo

(priest) of Ifa, gives us some insight into the concept and function of the ojúbọ within a larger discussion

of rituals associated with the Adimu Orisa festival. He informs us that:

To understand this topic requires a preliminary explanation of several ritual procedures. First in

most cases initiation in traditional Yorùbá culture is about placing the initiate in an altered state of

consciousness so the initiate can access information from spirit. In traditional Yorùbá spiritual

practice a shrine called Ojubo is built to function as a sacred place used to enhance [the]

connection between the ori or consciousness of the initiate and the ori or consciousness of the

spirit. The word Ojubo, from the elision oju ebo, 28 means place I face when making an

offering.29 Ojubo is considered a place of easy access to spirit it is considered a portal to the

invisible realm. The word portal in Yorùbá is Odu meaning womb and the invisible realm is called

Orun which is not easily translatable but essentially means Spirit of unseen things. In traditional

Ifa the key to opening the portal of Odu and guiding the ori to the invisible realm where

communication with Spirit is possible is the Spirit of Esu. In traditional Ifa Orisa Esu opens the

door to communication with Spirit so in theory we can use Esu to communicate to any of the

Spiritual entities worshipped in traditional Yorùbá spiritual discipline. 30

(emphasis mine)

For those readers who are aboriṣa (practitioners of Ifa), you are familiar with the fact that Èṣú is

represented by a rock/stone or hardened laterite clay known as yangi.31 Èṣú represents the force that opens

―doors‖ (provides opportunities) and we should remember that our linguistic roots for ―house, shrine,

enclosure, etc.,‖ are also the same roots meaning ―door.‖ A shrine, therefore, would be center for gaining

access to spirit: it is a spiritual portal of some sort.

As noted by Robert Farris Thompson in his work Flash of the Spirit (1984: 21), ―Laterite is said

to be the oldest and most important medium for representing Eshu, Eshu-Yangi, father of all Eshu.‖

27 The Yorùbá language no longer has the Niger-Congo prefixes that the Bantu languages still retain. So the k-b / k-p

root in Bantu and Egyptian is simply reduced to -b- or -p-. 28 It should actually be oju + ubo. But in many respects, ẹbọ can be correct. Ẹbọ is a ―sacrifice‖ or ―offering‖ in

generally. 29 The word oju means ―front, face, forward.‖ 30 http://falokunsblog.com/?p=522 31 In more modern times, in places like Cuba, Èṣú is made out of concrete.

Page 21 of 28

Thompson recalls a myth that is told in Cuba where Èṣú was first associated with a stone after

mysteriously dying at the crossroads. As a result of his death, there was an imbalance in the land for

which the divination priests had to be summoned to figure out what can be done to restore order. After

determining what could be done as a result of divination:

…the priests then selected a certain stone, soothed it with assuaging fluid. By this rite they caused

the spirit of the god Eshu to come from the forest to live within this stone, there to receive their

proffering of honor. And so Eshu was properly honored, by sacrificial signs of honor and respect,

and order returned to the world. (Thompson, ibid)

The stone is the oldest icon of Èṣú. In many African cultures stone represents ―memory‖ and the

―ancestors.‖ It represents the principle of creativity, resources, stories and symbolism. They are

considered the ―bones‖ of the earth. In the Yorùbá (Nigeria) and Dagara (Burkina Faso) traditions, it is

the bones, not the brain, which is the seat of memory.

Image of a black laterite head representing Eṣu-Elegba.32

To know the true story of the earth, geologists study the rocks. The rocks are considered conduits through

which the earth passes information on to us. Even in modern Silicon Valley, it is shaved stones that are

used to house ―memory‖ in memory chips.

In his book Esu-Elegba: Ifa and the Spirit of the Divine Messenger, Awo Fa‘lokun provides some

more insight into ojúbọ. He does this in the form of a question and answer session about Èṣú and his role

as the divine enforcer. He goes on to state:

Fa'lokun: So what does all of this have to do with life in Oakland in 1993?

Answer: One thing that I get is there are no absolutes.

Answer: It seems like Esu is necessary to find some form of spiritual centering.

32 Image retrieved from: http://www.thepumpkinandthecauldron.com/voodoosanteria.htm

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Fa'lokun: The Yorùbá word for shrine is "Ojubo." I'm going to tell you a secret. Every shrine I've

seen in Africa contains a rock. In our religion we pray to rocks. Ojubo means "the place we face

when we say our prayers." So when you are given a rock during initiation by wise and powerful

elders, they bring a Spirit to live in that rock so that you have something to dialogue with when

you face the rock. They also teach that if you don't talk to the rock, that which they brought to the

rock will go away. What you are left with is just a rock. Despite what the Christian missionary's

taught, no one in Africa believes that the rock is Esu or the spirit. They believe that the rock is the

place you face when you are speaking to Esu. This gives you a place to initiate the centering

process.

Fa‘lokun above reaffirms that all shrines in Africa contain rocks and in this case the rock is associated

with Èṣú. The rock itself becomes the ―house‖ of spirit. It is the focal point of prayers, the ―place (ubo)

you face (oju)‖ to keep yourself centered, focused and grounded. This is the function of all shrines.

Although the Arabic word for stone doesn‘t contain the -b- (bw) root, words for stone in other

African languages do. In the Egyptian language we have bw "a gemstone." In ciLubà we have dibwe(a)

―stone, pearl‖; lusàkàbù ―pebble‖; kabwebwebwe ―slab, splendor of rock, stone‖ (k-b-b-b; kaaba the

black-stone?). Additionally we have:

Cambell-Dunn (2009b)

STONE Sumerian ia4, i4 ―pebble‖

BI (BU) “stone” ( -l- )

Sumerian bir6, 7 ―break in pieces‖

PWS bí ―small‖

PNC *ma ―mountain‖

Congolese languages have bu- ―break‖

―Bantu‖ (Johnston 1922 : 391) LuGanda (E. Africa) ija ―stone‖ is close to the Sumerian. Johnston groups

this with viñga, fiñga ―stone‖ from bi ―small‖ ?

Mande bele, bere, M bete ―small stone‖

Mangbetu ébi ―to grill‖ (stones used for cooking)

[Sumerian i4 suggests an accent on i-, making it a root]

[ li may be ―head, one‖ > i ; or bi- ―break‖ > i]

<*B = # *I = i *T = # *A = a>

TOB Database

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *ʔab-

Bedauye: awe "stone" (Note *-b- > -w- in the intervocalic position.)

Proto-Agaw: *ʔab-

Khamir: abaa "mountain"

Khamta: aaba "mountain"

Qwara: abaa "mountain"

Proto-Low East Cushitic: *ʔeb-

Baiso: eʔebo "stone"

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *ʔabun-

Meaning: stone, millstone

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Borean etymology: Borean etymology

Semitic: *ʔab(V)n- 'stone'

Egyptian: bnw.t (ME) 'stone, millstone'

Western Chadic: *ʔabun(i)- 'millstone'

Central Chadic: *bun- 'millstone' 1, 'stone (? of grinding)' 2

Notes: Status of *ʔa- is not quite clear. Presumably, it is a prefix not preserved in Eg. On the other

hand, cf. HS *ʔab- suggesting a segmentation *ʔab-u

The latter b-n (l>n) forms remind us of the Egyptian bn/bnbn stone (the sacred stone of

On, city of the sun) which capped the top of the mrw (pyramids) and txnw (obelisks). It is my

contention that bn(bn) is just another dialectical variation of the word mr ―pyramid‖ which we

argue means ―shrine, house, (stone?)altar‖ (m>b; r>n). Note in Egyptian we have bnwt "millstone, hard sandstone, corn rubber, grindstone."

I plan to do a publication in the near future exclusively on the role of stones in African

spirituality. We don‘t have space to go into the intricacies of the paradigm here, but

understanding this common African practice may inform us as to why the black-stone is so

central to the larger conceptualization of the Islamic Kaaba (Egyptian Hbt, kp; Yorùbá ojúbọ;

ciLubà kaaba/mwaaba).

Babatunde Lawal, a professor of art history, in his article "Aworan: Representing the self

and its Metaphysical other in Yorùbá Art,"33 provides us with some additional insight into the

function of the Yorùbá altar. The larger discussion, in the section to be cited below, centers

around the metaphysical concept of ―looking‖ (<wo ―to gaze or look‖; ―nurture, care for, look

after.‖) and how this applies to Yorùbá ritual practices and the actions of deity. As the spirits

―look and gaze‖ upon you (the devotee), you in turn must look and gaze upon the spirits.34

This type of gaze is called oju rere (the benevolent eye) or oju aanu (the merciful eye). (148) It

follows, therefore, that the Yorùbá altar, called ojubo (literally, face of the worshiped), functions

as a kind of mask that facilitates ifojukoju, namely, "a face-to-face communion" between the

worshiper and the worshiped, enabling the latter to appreciate the oriki (eulogy) rendered in its

honor. (149) It is worth noting that the most sacred symbol of a deity--an organic substance or a

collection of charms--is usually concealed inside a wooden bowl with a face carved on it to

provide an ocular outlet for its content (Fig. 24). Such a face also implicates Esu the agent of sight

and receiver and courier of all the sacrifices offered to a deity. (150)

Lawal is interpreting the word ojúbọ as oju + ẹbọ where ẹbọ means ―offerings, sacrifice.‖ A cognate term

for ẹbọ in Yorùbá is bọ ―to worship, to deify.‖ It belongs to the same consonant root as the heteronym bọ́

―to feed.‖ In Tshiluba we have -pa (≋pèèsha)35 ―give, award, provide, to give sparingly‖; dipà ―giving‖;

dyùpa (<-uupa) ―to discharge‖ (a gun or battery); in other words to ―release‖ something. An offering is

the giving away of something valuable as a gift or tribute. But it is also used to discharge/release negative

energy surrounding one‘s life.36The idea is that when you sacrifice and give something of value (to

33 Babatunde Lawal "Aworan: Representing the self and its Metaphysical other in Yorùbá Art." In The Art Bulletin,

Sept, 2001. 34 This is why when we read the mdw nTr (hieroglyphs) we read ―facing‖ into the direction of the glyphs: the

direction in which the animal or people glyphs are facing. It is symbolic of the method by which one understands the

workings of nature, by looking into the face of nature (nTr). 35 The suffix esha in Tshiluba is equivalent to the causative s- prefix in the ancient Egyptian language: i.e., wab

―pure‖; swab ―to purify.‖ 36 In the case of a negative point in one‘s life, this is achieved by the animal being sacrificed absorbing the negative

spirit of a situation and taking it with its spirit as it dies into the spirit realm to be dealt with by the patriarchs there.

Page 24 of 28

someone else, to the ancestors, or to the Divine), in the spirit of reciprocity (Egyptian mAa.t; ciLubà

Balelela, Cyama), more blessings and protection from harm will come your way.37

Muhammad (2012) provides support for the idea that the stone is a focal point to have

conversations with the Divine in Islam. He cites an excerpt from an article titled ―Origin and Significance

of the Magen Dawid: A Comparative Study in the Ancient Religions of Jerusalem and Mecca,‖ written by

Hildegard Lewy. In this section of the article Lewy is discussing the practice of Muslims facing the

direction (qibla) of Mecca (originally a sacred rock in Jerusalem) during prayers. She goes on to state

that:

The significance of this command becomes apparent if it is kept in mind that the qibla is an

outgrowth of the belief…that man can address his prayers only to a being visible to the

eyes…when praying…the worshipper turned his eyes either to the heavenly body itself or, in it

absence, to the stone or statue representing it on earth. (Muhammad, 2012: 29-30).

Muhammad then reaffirms Lewy‘s statement with a verse from the Hadith of Jibril in which the prophet

Muhammad defines ihsan as ―to worship God as though you see Him, and if you cannot see Him, then

indeed He sees you." My only disagreement, in this section of Muhammad‘s text, is that he argues that

this is a ―Semitic‖ practice when this practice is older than the existence of the Semitic speakers. Unless

he is willing to make the argument that the Semites came into Africa and taught all the Africans to place

stones in shrines, this cannot be considered an exclusively ―Semitic‖ practice.

We noted earlier that the ―rock‖ at the center of the Yorùbá ojúbọ is associated with Èṣú. It

should be noted that in Yoruba mythology, one of the paths of Èṣú is known as Elegbara. This term

consists of two words El ―God‖ + agbara ―power‖(Hebrew Gebuwr-ah ―power,‖ Igbo agbara ―powerful

oracle,‖ Ebira 'Ne Gba' ―spirit‖). Elegbara among the Yorùbá is what became the Biblical angel Gabri-El

(word-order switch). El/Olu/Ala all mean GOD (proto-bantu *y-ulu). This is important here because when

the Arabs say Allahu Akbar which means ―Allah is the Greatest, most powerful,‖ they are invoking an old

African god: Èṣú (> the Biblical angel Gabriel)

Gabriel is also known as the messenger of God: Gaber-iy-el "the gaber of God." In Amharic

gebre means "servant." This g-b-r root in Hebrew lets us know that he is not only a messenger of God,

but a geber "valiant man," and a gibbowr "powerful man." In Yorùbá we have egbere "gnome" and al-

agbara "a powerful man."

Yorùbá: Elegbara, El-egba

Fon: Legba

Ebira: Ne gba (spirit), obi-negba "great spirit" is God)

Owerri Igbo: Agbara

Onitsha Igbo: Agbala

What‘s interesting about this correlation is that according to SalmanSpiritual.com,38

The phrase 'Allahu Akbar' is the opening declaration of every Islamic prayer and is a slogan which

was prescribed by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) to the mujahids of Islam.

All prayers among Ifa practitioners open with an invocation to Èṣú-Elegbara first before proceeding with

any aspects of the prayer (or ritual). This cannot be a coincidence. This is so because Èṣú is the one with

access to all the channels of blessings (and curses). He is the messenger and the message will not get to its

place of destination unless there is someone to bring it. The Arabs, following suit with the Hebrews,

37 It is highly probable that before Islam, the pre-Islamic Arabs used to do sacrifices and provide votive offerings at

the Kaaba.

38 http://salmanspiritual.com/akbar.html. Retreived January 2011.

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abandoned the notion of separate forces doing work on behalf of the Creator. They in turn demytholized

Èṣú, but kept his association with the opening of prayers.

It is believed—based on archeological, cultural and linguistic evidence—that the Yorùbá once

lived in the Nile Valley (Oduyoye 1984, Walker 2006) and in the Middle East and the Aegean (Campbell-

Dunn 2006, 2008). Oral tradition of the Yorùbá attests to this fact as well. It would not be a stretch to

suggest that the original Kushites, the Proto-Yorùbá, were in the areas of Sudan and Arabia. The Kaaba

(ojúbọ, ubo), I hypothesize, was originally dedicated to Èṣú (Egyptian Wsr)-Elegbara (Arabic Allahu

Akbar). I will demonstrate in an upcoming publication that Ifa is the oldest and most wide-spread African

spiritual system and that it existed in the Nile Valley, the Mediterranean and the Middle East in ancient

times. The many ―gods‖ that the prophet Muhammad got rid of in the Kaaba, and in ‗Islam‘ in general,

was more than likely the original pantheon of forces of Ifa. The Egyptian and Yorùbá tradition preserved

many of these predynastic conceptualizations.

CONCLUSION

We set out to see if the idea that the Islamic name for their most holy shrine, the Kaaba, can be

broken-down into the ancient Egyptian concepts of the kA (vital essence, personality, double) and

the bA (soul). We conclude that this cannot be substantiated given the evidence and that this

association is the result of folk-etymology.

We argue here that the word kaaba simply means ―house‖ and its conceptual meaning

has been extended to mean ―shrine‖ (a house for spirit) and ―altar.‖ Its Egyptian equivalents are

Hbt ―niche (of house, tomb), altar‖ and kp ―house.‖ We argue that these terms are composed of a

monosyllabic root bw which means ―place, abode, location, site, etc.‖ The Kaaba is simply the

―place‖ where devotees go to commune with the Divine: to gain access to the spirit world.

We also suggested that black-stone housed inside the Kaaba may have inner African

origins. More investigation is needed here and research is currently being conducted in this area

by the author. It has also been suggested that the mrw (pyramids) are some of the earliest

variations of the ‗Kaaba‘. We reinterpret the name mr ―pyramid‖ to mean ―shrine, altar, house,

chapel.‖ With this in mind, the Egyptians have had many ‗Kaabas‘ throughout its history, in all

shapes and sizes. Therefore, the ‗cube‘ association with kaaba is a later association, but its root is

in ―house‖ (which can have four square walls, or be round like a hut: .e.g, Western Chadic:

*kap(VH)- 'hut').

With this notion of a kaaba being a ―house, temple, chapel, etc.,‖ we note one of the most

important ‗kaabas‘ among the Egyptians: the temple of Ipt-Iswt in Luxor whose construction

began in the Middle Kingdom. This temple was originally called pr-Imn (House of Amen) and

was later changed to ipt-iswt (sacred place).39 It is now known as the temple of Karnak. As noted

before, pr and ipt are variants of the same root: bw ―place.‖

39 The word iswt can also mean ―ancient, antiquity, old, old custom, the older generation, ancient writings.‖ So it is

possible that ipt-iswt means ―ancient temple‖ or ―house of ancient writings.‖ In a modern university, we would

probably say ―The History Building.‖ However, the word isw means ―deity, godhead.‖ In this case, ipt-iswt could be

interpreted to mean ―House of God‖ (a temple, church, the Egyptian School of Divinity).

Page 26 of 28

Karnak temple (ipt-iswt) frontal view

Many of the so-called Semitic practices and deities are being revealed to not be ―Semitic‖

at all, but to be rooted among inner-African, Kongo-Saharan speakers. I suggest that the Semitic

speakers adopted and retranslated many of the concepts and practices first established by these

Kongo-Saharan speakers who first lived in the areas now occupied by Semitic speakers. For one

to gain insight into these Semitic concepts and practices, one must go into inner Africa where

they originated and where these concepts and practices are most expansive.

PRESENTATION DE L’AUTEUR

Asar Imhotep is a computer programmer and Africana researcher from Houston, TX whose research focus is the

cultural, linguistic and philosophical links between the Ancient Egyptian civilizations and modern BaNtu cultures of

central and South Africa. He is the founder of the MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research and the

Madu-Ndela Institute for the Advancement of Science and Culture. He is also the author of The Bakala of North

America, the Living Suns of Vitality: In Search for a Meaningful Name for African-Americans, Passion of the Christ

or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth and Ogun, African Fire Philosophy and the Meaning of

KMT. Asar is a noted speaker and philosopher and is currently organizing efforts in a nation-wide venture titled The

African-American Cultural Development Project—a national project aimed at creating a framework for an African-

American culture which will help vitally stimulate the economic, political, scientific and cultural spheres of African-

American life in the United States.

Page 27 of 28

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WEBSITES

Beinlich Egyptian Online Dictionary

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/er/beinlich/beinlich.html (German)

Canaanite Dictionary

http://canaanite.org/

Dictionnaire ciLubà

http://www.ciyem.ugent.be/ (French)

Kalenjiin Online Dictionary

http://africanlanguages.com/kalenjin/

Meeussen‘s Proto-Bantu Reconstructions http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/CBOLD/Docs/Meeussen.html

Tower of Babel

http://starling.rinet.ru/