THE AFRICAN ORIGIN OF PILGRIMAGES...
Abydos was the first ever place of pilgrimage in the whole world (Diop, 1987, p. 123). It was where the concept of gathering a large population in a particular place for the purpose of spiritual observance began (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 145). This was over 4000 years before there was a Jerusalem, Rome, Mecca or the Carolingian steppes town where the codex Gigas ('the devil's bible' was written in the 9th century CE (Durant, 1968, p. 78). Abydos existed long before the concept of spirituality, or immaterial world became part of the Magyar nomads in the Eurasian steppes (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 15. The Magyars were the first Europeans to experiment with spirituality through 'blood oaths' in cults (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 155). The Mongols of the Eurasian steppes got engaged in the practice of gathering together in the form of a pilgrimage in the middle ages (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 16. The Nabateans who worshipped a deity known as Dusharra began the practice of pilgrimage in the Masjid al-Haraam in Petra in about the 3rd century BC (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 165).
For the Africans, the system of pilgrimage is thousands of years ago before there was a Mecca or Rome, before the concept of Islamism or Christianity and Judaism (Diop, 1987, p. 125). The practice began in the southern parts of African societies and moved along the course of the Nile to Abydos (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 17. It was an 'inner circle' gathering where the elders sat in a circle (Mandela, 1994, p. 23). In modern times, Nelson Mandela once spoke of this inner circle as a place where the elders make decisions, and his uncle, the regent was the last to speak (Mandela, 1994, p. 25). The practice existed long in Africa, before the time of the Greeks, the Etruscans (that became Romans) and thousands of years before the first Jew came into existence in about 1675 BCE... and before there was a Mohammed, Jesus nor the concept of a Jehovah (Diop, 1987, p. 13.
Abydos was a location in ancient Kemet (which became known as Egypt during the time of the Greeks in the 3rd century BC) (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 175). This was where ancient Africans gather to worship 'Ptah' (or 'Osiris' for others), the known spiritual authority in the universe then; before there was anything known as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism or Taoism (Diop, 1987, p. 135). The way to the location of Abydos is today around Lake 'Nasser' (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 18. Zoroastrian and Manichean: a concept of "good spirit and evil spirit battling for the control of the universe and men's souls" began at Abydos, and this was to influence every form of religious ideology that came thousands of years later (Van Sertima, 1985, p. 185). "For since the natural inequality of men dooms many of us to poverty or defeat, some supernatural hope may be sole alternative to despair" - Will Durant (The lessons of history) (Durant, 1968, p. 8.
By the history of African magazine
References
Diop, C. A. (1987). Precolonial Black Africa. Lawrence Hill Books.
Van Sertima, I. (1985). African presence in early Asia. Transaction Publishers.
Durant, W. (1968). The Lessons of History. Simon & Schuster.
Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk to Freedom. Little, Brown and Company
