•The Dogon are an ethnic group located mainly in the districts of Bandiagara and Douentza in Mali, West Africa. This area is composed of three distinct topographical regions: the plain, the cliffs, and the plateau •There are three principal cults among the Dogon; the Awa, Lebe and Binu. The Awa is a cult of the dead, whose purpose is to reorder the spiritual forces disturbed by the death of Nommo, a mythological ancestor of great importance to the Dogon. Members of the Awa cult dance with ornate carved and painted masks during both funeral and death anniversary ceremonies. There are 78 different types of ritual masks among the Dogon and their iconographic messages go beyond the aesthetic, into the realm of religion and philosophy. The primary purpose of Awa dance ceremonies is to lead souls of the deceased to their final resting place in the family altars and to consecrate their passage to the ranks of the ancestors. •The cult of Lebe, the Earth God, is primarily concerned with the agricultural cycle and its chief priest is called a Hogon. All Dogon villages have a Lebe shrine whose altars have bits of earth incorporated into them to encourage the continued fertility of the land. According to Dogon beliefs, the god Lebe visits the Hogons every night in the form of a serpent and licks their skins in order to purify them and infuse them with life force. The Hogons are responsible for guarding the purity of the soil and therefore officiate at many agricultural ceremonies. •The cult of Binu is a totemic practice and it has complex associations with the Dogon’s sacred places used for ancestor worship, spirit communication and agricultural sacrifices.
Additional Military and Political Organization Information:
At the apex of the Ghanaian empire, the kingdom stretched over an area about the same size as Texas. There is evidence that millions of people inhabited this region. Since the size of the kingdom was so vast, a large military was required to maintain and defend it. The king held the commander-in-chief position and soldiers were considered elites. The regular Ghanaian army was composed of several thousands of soldier that were charged with protecting borders and stopping small invasions. If a larger threat threatened the empire, the professional army coalesced with reserve forces and troops from subsequent chiefs. All men in the Ghanaian empire obtained extensive military training, including members of royalty. According to E. Jefferson Murphy's book History of African Civilizations, there is evidence of police-like forces. This group of men lived in special army compounds and tried to keep peace and order. The "police" wore tunics and headdresses adorned with feathers. The ranking of the officer was shown by the number of feathers and the color of his tunic. Along with the general army and police officers, a group of Royal bodyguards were hand picked to guard the king and his family.
In judicial matters, the king's word was absolute. He was allowed to issue pardons, draft peace treaties and other analogous tasks. According to al-Bakri, there are several areas that instructed "Trial by Wood." This is how he described it:
"When a man is accused of denying a debt or having shed blood or some other crime, a headman takes a thin piece of wood, which is sour and bitter to taste, and pours upon it some water which he then gives to the defendant to drink. If the man vomits, his innocence is recognized and he is congratulated. If he does not vomit and the drink remains in his stomach, the accusation is accepted as justified" (McKassack 33-4).
