THE IGBO DWARFS - AUTHORS OF THE MONOLITHS
The Niger-Congo belt is the home of the dwarfs also called Pygmies of the Congo Basin. Ikom folklore says that dwarfs which they call Mong-kom (and which the Igbo call Nwa-Nshi) were the authors of the monoliths, known to the natives as Akwa-Nshi. Dwarfs were known in antiquity as adept workers of metal and great magicians. The link between the Ikom name of the monoliths - Akwa Nshi - and the Igbo name of the dwarfs - Nwa-Nshi - indicate that it was an Igbo-speaking Nwa-nshi community that authored the monoliths and invented the ancient sacred script known to thee Cross River indigenes as Nshi-biri – (which in Igbo means ‘Written by Nshi’), used by the members of the Ekpe cult whose sacred temple is the monoliths capital located at the monoliths circle in the village Alok, Ikom. The fact that the Cross River people of the monoliths have little no in-depth knowledge about the Nshi phenomenon so deeply rooted in Igbo Weltanschauung and central to the identity and cosmology of the creators of the monoliths, is ample testimony that the authors of the monoliths and the creators of Igbo culture belong to the same cosmological bloodline. This explains the link with Igbo Ukwu bronzes! The pygmy connection also explains why similar writings have been found in Hindu Cush, an area with a still surviving population of dwarfs some of which go by the name Jarawa - the name of a tribe in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria with a very strong ancient tradition of dwarf priests and magicians. In Kiswahili, a Bantu language, Akwa Nshi means ‘Property of Nshi’, and Bantu, as we have earlier indicated, has its origin in the Ikom/Benue linguistic belt! The root etymon Kwa in Akwa Nshi, would tend to connect the Nshi dwarfs with the Kwa language family to which belong quite a number of West African tribes including the Igbo, Yoruba, Benin, Idoma, Ashanti, Akan, etc., most of which are known for their expertise in metal-working, especially bronze and in some cases, gold.
In our recent publication on this research titled, The Gram Code of African Adam, Stone Books and Cave Libraries – Reconstructing 450,000 Years of Africa’s Lost Civilizations we made the point that the first forms of writing were in three major shapes – lines, circles and spirals (curves) – which must have been discovered or invented in that order. All Prehistoric symbols known to man portray one or other, or combination of these forms. The Igbo Ukwu artifact under reference has all three basic forms of writing – lines (executed in the form of ichi marks on the woman’s face and on both sides of the alter-stand/pot stand in plate 2,3); circles (executed in the form of two concentric circles on the man’s forehead in plate 2); spirals and curves formed through the movement of eight snakes, four on each side of the artifact (alluding to the Igbo small week of four days and great week of eight weeks) , thus making the Igbo Ukwu alter-stand a kind of Rosetta Stone asserting Igbo claim to ownership of the first letters discovered by man, and of the discovery of all three forms of writing first employed by mankind!
Let us examine these three forms of writing briefly. Our basic definition of writing is the act of setting down information in the form of letters, symbols, pictures or other form of graphic communication (This definition is an adaptation of the definition of ‘writing’, ‘to write’ in The New Lexicon Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of Current English Language). Writing is thus a concise form of communication or means of disseminating information from one person to another without using the mouth; and whereby a second instrument – paper, stone, papyrus, cloth, the ground or any surface smooth enough to be written on, is employed as the medium or carrier of the first instrument – the symbol itself.
The Linea or Column Writing: This form of writing is formed using straight lines, whereby meaning is conveyed through the number of lines in each group, the direction and elevation of each group of lines. Examples are the ancient Ogam Stone inscriptions of Ireland and Scotland (plate 21), Cretan Linea A and B (plate 21b) and Igbo Column writing which has nearly been lost but can now only be seen in ichi facial and wood-panel carvings (plate 21). Igbo linear writing is described in passing Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (pp. 5, 6). [For more on this theme see Catherine Acholonu: “Ogam Stone Inscriptions and Igbo Column Writing”, published online at HYPERLINK "http://www.catherineacholonu.com/" \t "_blank" www.catherineacholonu.com; Catherine Acholonu: “Ogam Philosophical Language and the Lost Nation of Tilmun”, in Reflections on Indigenous Philosophical Thought and its Contributions to Tolerance in Society, UNESCO Nigeria Publication, Abuja, 2006, also published online].
Circular/Spiral/Curved Writing: These three forms of writing are related because they are formed through curved lines (plates 1, 4b, 5). Like the line, the circle and the spiral originated from the belief by the ancients that the Creator of the universe created form from formlessness. This formlessness they illustrated as a point or a zero (a circle) while form through which came space and time was illustrated as a line that gave rise to other lines and geometric shapes. Both the line and the spiral were said to have originated in the zero point or circle. Thus zero is the symbol of the Infinite – God. In fact in geometry zero represents Infinity. The spiral is the symbol that represents cycles of creation and dissolution, of time and non-time and of worlds caught in the ebb and flow of life. All orthographies of the world’s languages can be divided into two basic groups – the linear and the curvular and some languages combine both, as most languages do today.
The Number Four – the Cross, the Chalice and the Blade: Igbo cosmology is rooted in the number four. The concept of time is anchored around the number four. The Igbo basic week has four days while the great week has eight days. This basic number also represents the four fish-monger deities that inaugurated the four market days Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo, named after each one of them. The number four is a deity. Its two basic forms are: the quadrangle (plates 10a,b, 8, 7a,b, 6a,b): the lozenge, the slanting square representing a four-pointed star, the X-shaped equal-armed cross enshrined in the Igbo-Ukwu-type ichi facial scarification (plate 3). These forms, when etched on wooden doorposts and shrine objects represent the deity itself (plate 6, 7). The meaning of this can be found in Hebrew Cabbala where it is believed that forms are entities, not just representations of entities, but the entity itself. In other words, deity exists in its symbol or the representation of its number. This matter will become clearer later as we discuss The Nag Hammadi scripture. The X (the slanting cross) and the lozenge (the slanting square) represent two opposite forms of the same basic symbol created from what Dan Brown called the Chalice (a V-shape with the open mouth looking up, representing the female gender) and the Blade (an inverted V-shape with the tip pointing upwards, representing the male gender). (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, 2003) The Chalice and the Blade joined at the mouth create a lozenge, a quadrangle – the quintessential symbol of the Mother Goddess, of order in nature – the cubed, molecular universe. When joined at the base the Vs produce a X-shaped cross or a double-mouthed chalice the symbol of the sacrificial Son of God (plate 9a represents an equal-armed cross inter-spaced with two such chalices crossing each other at the center). The exact same symbol is seen on one of the Ikom monoliths (plate 9b) showing an equal armed cross inscribed (and inscribed by) a circle. (This monolith and photograph is Courtesy of National Museum, Lagos, all other items here are courtesy of Odinani Museum, Nri and Igbo Ukwu Museum, Igbo Ukwu.) This is no coincidence for the cross is the basic geometry of ichi, the scarification mark of the god-men (women) called Nze na Ozo (plates 8, 3). Traditionally, equal-armed crosses (plate 9a,b, 23) square crosses, and lozenge symbols are etched on all gate-posts and cult symbols in Igbo land and act as talisman.
It is important to note that these symbols, though having been recognized as universal Christian esoteric and exoteric symbols, are indigenous to Igbo culture and point towards Igbo Pre-historic influence on Christianity, a theme that shall be treated in greater detail. Plate 9a, an ozo traditional seat, shows a classical Igbo example of a perfectly shaped Maltese (or equal-armed) cross. In between the four arms of the cross are four chalices looking outwards and forming a cross at their zero center. The entire image is surrounded by an outer circle. This is a very potent mystical, Christian symbol, yet as we can see here, its origins are African. The ozo is a cult of men (and originally women too) who have dedicated themselves to the service of God. They live out the divine ideal of holiness and self denial, observing all the virtues of God, remaining sinless and impeccable in their dealings with their fellow human beings. This same image is found on one of the monoliths of Ikom (plate 9a, b), thus, not only connecting the two cultures, but linking them with the origins of the Maltese Cross in particular, Christianity in general and the Grail legend (plates 9a, b).
In our recent publication on this research titled, The Gram Code of African Adam, Stone Books and Cave Libraries – Reconstructing 450,000 Years of Africa’s Lost Civilizations we made the point that the first forms of writing were in three major shapes – lines, circles and spirals (curves) – which must have been discovered or invented in that order. All Prehistoric symbols known to man portray one or other, or combination of these forms. The Igbo Ukwu artifact under reference has all three basic forms of writing – lines (executed in the form of ichi marks on the woman’s face and on both sides of the alter-stand/pot stand in plate 2,3); circles (executed in the form of two concentric circles on the man’s forehead in plate 2); spirals and curves formed through the movement of eight snakes, four on each side of the artifact (alluding to the Igbo small week of four days and great week of eight weeks) , thus making the Igbo Ukwu alter-stand a kind of Rosetta Stone asserting Igbo claim to ownership of the first letters discovered by man, and of the discovery of all three forms of writing first employed by mankind!
Let us examine these three forms of writing briefly. Our basic definition of writing is the act of setting down information in the form of letters, symbols, pictures or other form of graphic communication (This definition is an adaptation of the definition of ‘writing’, ‘to write’ in The New Lexicon Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of Current English Language). Writing is thus a concise form of communication or means of disseminating information from one person to another without using the mouth; and whereby a second instrument – paper, stone, papyrus, cloth, the ground or any surface smooth enough to be written on, is employed as the medium or carrier of the first instrument – the symbol itself.
The Linea or Column Writing: This form of writing is formed using straight lines, whereby meaning is conveyed through the number of lines in each group, the direction and elevation of each group of lines. Examples are the ancient Ogam Stone inscriptions of Ireland and Scotland (plate 21), Cretan Linea A and B (plate 21b) and Igbo Column writing which has nearly been lost but can now only be seen in ichi facial and wood-panel carvings (plate 21). Igbo linear writing is described in passing Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (pp. 5, 6). [For more on this theme see Catherine Acholonu: “Ogam Stone Inscriptions and Igbo Column Writing”, published online at HYPERLINK "http://www.catherineacholonu.com/" \t "_blank" www.catherineacholonu.com; Catherine Acholonu: “Ogam Philosophical Language and the Lost Nation of Tilmun”, in Reflections on Indigenous Philosophical Thought and its Contributions to Tolerance in Society, UNESCO Nigeria Publication, Abuja, 2006, also published online].
Circular/Spiral/Curved Writing: These three forms of writing are related because they are formed through curved lines (plates 1, 4b, 5). Like the line, the circle and the spiral originated from the belief by the ancients that the Creator of the universe created form from formlessness. This formlessness they illustrated as a point or a zero (a circle) while form through which came space and time was illustrated as a line that gave rise to other lines and geometric shapes. Both the line and the spiral were said to have originated in the zero point or circle. Thus zero is the symbol of the Infinite – God. In fact in geometry zero represents Infinity. The spiral is the symbol that represents cycles of creation and dissolution, of time and non-time and of worlds caught in the ebb and flow of life. All orthographies of the world’s languages can be divided into two basic groups – the linear and the curvular and some languages combine both, as most languages do today.
The Number Four – the Cross, the Chalice and the Blade: Igbo cosmology is rooted in the number four. The concept of time is anchored around the number four. The Igbo basic week has four days while the great week has eight days. This basic number also represents the four fish-monger deities that inaugurated the four market days Eke, Orie, Afo and Nkwo, named after each one of them. The number four is a deity. Its two basic forms are: the quadrangle (plates 10a,b, 8, 7a,b, 6a,b): the lozenge, the slanting square representing a four-pointed star, the X-shaped equal-armed cross enshrined in the Igbo-Ukwu-type ichi facial scarification (plate 3). These forms, when etched on wooden doorposts and shrine objects represent the deity itself (plate 6, 7). The meaning of this can be found in Hebrew Cabbala where it is believed that forms are entities, not just representations of entities, but the entity itself. In other words, deity exists in its symbol or the representation of its number. This matter will become clearer later as we discuss The Nag Hammadi scripture. The X (the slanting cross) and the lozenge (the slanting square) represent two opposite forms of the same basic symbol created from what Dan Brown called the Chalice (a V-shape with the open mouth looking up, representing the female gender) and the Blade (an inverted V-shape with the tip pointing upwards, representing the male gender). (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, 2003) The Chalice and the Blade joined at the mouth create a lozenge, a quadrangle – the quintessential symbol of the Mother Goddess, of order in nature – the cubed, molecular universe. When joined at the base the Vs produce a X-shaped cross or a double-mouthed chalice the symbol of the sacrificial Son of God (plate 9a represents an equal-armed cross inter-spaced with two such chalices crossing each other at the center). The exact same symbol is seen on one of the Ikom monoliths (plate 9b) showing an equal armed cross inscribed (and inscribed by) a circle. (This monolith and photograph is Courtesy of National Museum, Lagos, all other items here are courtesy of Odinani Museum, Nri and Igbo Ukwu Museum, Igbo Ukwu.) This is no coincidence for the cross is the basic geometry of ichi, the scarification mark of the god-men (women) called Nze na Ozo (plates 8, 3). Traditionally, equal-armed crosses (plate 9a,b, 23) square crosses, and lozenge symbols are etched on all gate-posts and cult symbols in Igbo land and act as talisman.
It is important to note that these symbols, though having been recognized as universal Christian esoteric and exoteric symbols, are indigenous to Igbo culture and point towards Igbo Pre-historic influence on Christianity, a theme that shall be treated in greater detail. Plate 9a, an ozo traditional seat, shows a classical Igbo example of a perfectly shaped Maltese (or equal-armed) cross. In between the four arms of the cross are four chalices looking outwards and forming a cross at their zero center. The entire image is surrounded by an outer circle. This is a very potent mystical, Christian symbol, yet as we can see here, its origins are African. The ozo is a cult of men (and originally women too) who have dedicated themselves to the service of God. They live out the divine ideal of holiness and self denial, observing all the virtues of God, remaining sinless and impeccable in their dealings with their fellow human beings. This same image is found on one of the monoliths of Ikom (plate 9a, b), thus, not only connecting the two cultures, but linking them with the origins of the Maltese Cross in particular, Christianity in general and the Grail legend (plates 9a, b).