The knowledge we possess of the Dogon religion is derived from extensive research undertaken by French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen over a period of thirty years, commencing in the 1930s. Due to the aforementioned investigations, Griaule became as a highly renowned and esteemed anthropologist throughout his day. Griaule and Dieterlen extensively studied and videotaped all facets of Dogon life, gradually establishing a strong rapport with the Dogon community. Griaule characterized the Dogon religion as a clandestine tradition, wherein the enigmatic aspects were only divulged to devout adherents following extensive periods of instruction under the guidance of a Dogon clergyman. Griaule himself underwent the process of initiation into this clandestine custom, thus attaining the status of an honorary Dogon citizen and receiving a Dogon burial subsequent to his premature demise in 1956.
The Dogon garnered first public interest with the publication of a seminal work in 1975 authored by Robert K. G. Temple, titled “The Sirius Mystery.” Temple’s book, derived from a partial translation of Griaule and Dieterlen’s research, reveals that the Dogon priests possessed knowledge of certain esoteric astronomical details regarding the Sirius star system. However, without the use of advanced contemporary telescopes, it would have been implausible for them to have been aware of these facts. Sirius, the most luminous celestial body in the nocturnal expanse, held a prominent position in the mythologies of several ancient civilizations.
The Dogon were aware that Sirius is not a single star, but rather a pair of stars. Astronomers referred to the brilliant star of Sirius as Sirius A, which is accompanied by a dark, tiny, and dense dwarf star known as Sirius B. Additionally, they possessed knowledge on the accurate orbital period of fifty years for the two stars. Temple presented this knowledge as substantiation of a potential extraterrestrial encounter in antiquity.
Temple’s book elicited significant disagreement, both among the general public and within the scientific community, as anticipated.
Carl Sagan, a renowned astronomer from Cornell University, dismissed the notion of an extraterrestrial origin in Temple’s book and instead posited that the Dogon priests likely acquired their understanding of Sirius from a contemporary visitation from an external realm. Dieterlen refuted Sagan’s assertion by introducing a Dogon artifact with a carving dating back four centuries, which portrayed the interconnection between the two celestial bodies. During the 1980s, Belgian anthropologist Walter Van Beek did a very brief reexamination of Griaule’s research.
Van Beek’s team conducted thorough interviews with a diverse group of Dogon informants, but they were unable to replicate Griaule’s findings. Consequently, he deduced that the myth was likely contrived by the Dogon priests on behalf of Griaule. Given that my comparative studies are based on the anthropological research conducted by Griaule and Dieterlen, one of my primary objectives has been to critically examine the issues that undermine the credibility of Griaule’s Dogon cosmology.
From our perspective, there exist other compelling reasons that may be presented in opposition to Sagan’s perspective. Initially, it is evident that the Dogon allusions to the Sirius stars are expressed using a vocabulary that can be considered old Egyptian, a language that ceased to be in use approximately 700 BCE. The Dogon Sigi (or Sigui) celebration of Sirius might be characterized by the Egyptian term “skhai,” denoting the act of commemorating a feast.
One primary issue with Sagan’s proposed answer regarding the Dogon knowledge of Sirius is to the challenge of identifying a legitimate contemporary visitor who could have presented contemporary astronomical facts using ancient terminology. Furthermore, in Egyptian mythology, the deity Isis was seen as a symbol of the radiant celestial body Sirius, also known as Sothis. The ancient Egyptians said that Isis had a dark sister named Nephthys, so implying their own awareness of a second Sirius star with lower luminosity.
The challenge associated with Van Beek’s conclusion pertains to a Dogon temple known as a granary, which is characterized by its alignment. According to Griaule and Dieterlen, this shrine might be characterized as a significant mnemonic device for the Dogon cosmological system. Conversely, Van Beek stated that this notion was a conceptual construct devised by Griaule. The issue lies in the fact that both the shrine and its corresponding cosmology closely resemble a well recognized form of Buddhist shrine found in India and Asia known as a stupa, together with its cosmology. Given the well-established legitimacy and widespread acceptance of the Buddhist shrine and its cosmology, it is highly improbable that the corresponding Dogon shrine and its associated cosmology could have been just incidental fabrications.
The Dogon represent a vibrant culture in which priests possess a profound comprehension of their own customs and rituals. Moreover, these Dogon traditions appear to mirror the first customs observed in ancient Egypt. For instance, it is believed that the Egyptian hieroglyphic language originated in ancient Egypt during the dynasty period, but the Dogon people did not have a local writing system. It might be inferred that the Dogon and Egyptians may have terminated any connection prior to the introduction of writing.
The emergence of these intercalary days in Egyptian culture suggests an older connection between the Dogon and the ancient Egyptians. Given the given circumstances, it is not surprising that Dogon civilization bears many similarities to the predynastic Amazigh tribes that lived in Egypt before the First Dynasty, which lasted from around 3100 to 2890 BCE.