The Dogon: Ancient Astronomers of West Africa

The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso.

In late 1946, Griaule spent a consecutive 33 days in conversations with the Dogon wiseman Ogotemmeli, the source of much of Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen’s future publications. They reported that the Dogon believe that the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius (Sigi Tolo or “star of the Sigui”), has two companion stars, Pō Tolo (the Digitaria star), and ęmmę ya tolo, (the female Sorghum star), respectively the first and second companions of Sirius A.

Sirius, in the Dogon system, formed one of the foci for the orbit of a tiny star, the companionate Digitaria star. When Digitaria is closest to Sirius, that star brightens: when it is farthest from Sirius, it gives off a twinkling effect that suggests to the observer several stars. The orbit cycle takes 50 years. They also claimed that the Dogon appeared to know of the rings of Saturn, and the moons of Jupiter.

The Dogon knew the precise location of astronomical bodies and phenomena that hadn’t been discovered by modern science for hundreds of years. While Sirius A is visible to the naked eye, its companion white dwarf, Sirius B, was not discovered until the 1950s with an advanced telescope. The Dogon, however, was well aware of its presence, as well as its orbital period, describing its existence before it was confirmed years later.

Although the Dogon live in an area more than 2,000 miles from Egypt, they have a history that appears to have some intriguing connections with its famed, ancient lineage that hinted at some connection to the stars.

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