Wandering fig trees

A Beja sacred tree tradition in ancient Egypt

Bibliographic Data

ID17832302
AuthorsJulien Cooper (0000-0002-8621-9315, Macquarie University, corresponding author), Gidske L Andersen (University of Bergen), Knut Krzywinski (University of Bergen), Mohamed Talib (Red Sea University)
Year2026
Publication date2026-02-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41599-025-06278-6
OpenAlexW7128806633
LanguageEN
References cited34

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