Wandering fig trees

A Beja sacred tree tradition in ancient Egypt

Dados Bibliográficos

ID17832302
AutoresJulien Cooper (0000-0002-8621-9315, Macquarie University, autor correspondente), Gidske L Andersen (University of Bergen), Knut Krzywinski (University of Bergen), Mohamed Talib (Red Sea University)
Ano2026
Data de publicação2026-02-13
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHumanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992
EditoraPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41599-025-06278-6
OpenAlexW7128806633
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas34

Evidence for the exchange or diffusion of religious traditions between ancient Egypt and neighbouring Africa is usually confined to the cultures of the Nile corridor in Nubia. Religious connections between Egypt and cultures further afield, while amply discussed, still await confirmation. This analysis demonstrates the likely connection or importation of a sacred sycamore tradition from the Beja culture of Eastern Sudan into the cult of the Egyptian cow goddess Hathor. Using a combination of textual and linguistic analysis of a ‘foreign’ sacred tree tradition in ancient Egyptian texts alongside modern ethnographic surveys in Eastern Sudan, this study traces the origins of a sacred Ficus sycomorus L. tradition from Eastern Sudan to ancient Egypt. This still-functioning sacred sycamore tradition reveals an unexplored and hidden connection between ancient Egyptians and pastoralists of Eastern Sudan, while also establishing a deep and common sacred sycamore tradition across Egypt, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa

Ancient egypt · Buddhism · Cult · Ethnography · French horn · Pastoralism · African history and culture analysis · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies