AOSIS OpenJournalshttp://www.openjournals.netinfo@openjournals.nethttp://www.hts.org.za0259-94222072-8050There are many cultural practices that connect ancient Egyptians to the Yorubas and the new interpretation of the Oduduwa legend suggests that the Yorubas have originated or are influenced mainly by the Egyptians. The attestation of Egypt as the main influencer of the Yoruba culture made Egypt significant in the study of the history of the Yoruba people. Some writers are beginning to think that the ancient Egyptians were responsible for introducing and spreading many cultures amongst the Yorubas. As more Yorubas are tracing their origins and the origins of their culture to ancient Egypt, this research investigates whether the Egyptians were the originators and the main spreaders of the afterlife culture in Yorubaland.
Jock M. Agai1 
1School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 
This article was completed as part of a PhD programme at the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, under the supervision of Prof. Philippe Denis. 
Jock Agai
leadershipserve@yahoo.ca
PO Box 11108, The Tramshed 0126, South Africa
191969110.4102/hts.v69i1.191910 Jan. 201327 Apr. 201302 July 2013Agai, J.M., 2013, ‘An investigation into the ancient Egyptian cultural influences on the Yorubas of Nigeria’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 69(1), Art. #1919, 9 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v69i1.1919 
© 2013. 
The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
IntroductionThe problem
In Yorubaland (south-west Nigeria), I have asked many Yorubas about their origins and about the origins of their culture. Most of the Yoruba people I interviewed told me that their ancestors originated in Egypt whilst a few said from Mecca. The Yorubas I met are aware of the Yoruba Oduduwa legend which says that the Yorubas are symbolically from the ‘east’ or ‘Mecca’. Many Yorubas of today think that they rather originated in Egypt and not literally in the ‘east’ or ‘Mecca’ (Umoh 1971:116) and this prompted an investigation into the subject. This researcher has discovered that there are many cultural practices that connect the Yorubas to the Egyptians, and this research concentrates on discussing the afterlife connection between these two cultures. However, are cultural similarities between two cultures enough reason to say that one of the cultures originated from the other or that one of the cultures influenced the other? Where does the Yoruba afterlife culture originate? 
There are those who speculate that the Yoruba culture originated from Jewish sources (Lucas 1970:379, 382; Omolewa 2008:55). However, many Yoruba cultural practices do not have connections to those of the Israelites. Parrinder (1951:199) notes that there is virtually very little or no linguistic evidence that shows any form of connection between the Israelites and the Yorubas. In terms of the afterlife beliefs, the Israelites views and those of the Yorubas varied immensely and there is no clear oral history or literature analysis about any possible geographical evidence of migration from ancient Israel to Yorubaland. One of the greatest opponents of Egypt, being the main source of Yoruba culture, is Frobenius. Frobenius (1968) believes that the Yorubas were highly influenced by the Etruscan culture which passed through the Atlantic and centred itself in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia). Frobenius calls those Etruscan cultures which found their way into Yorubaland the ‘Atlantic culture’. He rejects Egypt as the main influencer or as the geographical origin of the Yorubas. He based his hypothesis on the fact that there are many Etruscan cultural practices amongst North Africans that are similar to those of the Yorubas and he thinks that it was easier to travel from North Africa to Yorubaland than from Egypt to Yorubaland (Frobenius 1968:186–204).Frobenius says that the Yoruba and the Atlantic culture share: Water storage construction systems. He emphasised that the style of houses constructed by the Yorubas was similar to those used by the Etruscans, Moroccans and Algerians whereby the Impluvium is built in the centre of the house whilst apartments with verandas are built in a rectangular form.
The construction of their houses. Yorubas construct houses with ridge roofs that are similar to those in North Africa.
The colour and form of bows and arrows used by the Yorubas are similar to those in Morocco.
The North African hand loom, unknown in the Sudan, is found amongst Yoruba woman. 
The drum shape and other articles peculiar to North Africa are not found in the Sudan, but are found in Yorubland.
The existence of the ‘Templum’, amongst both the Yorubas and North Africans whereby houses are built round a temple or sacred building; even in towns, houses were generally built around sacred buildings. Frobenius thinks that even the religion of Ile Ife is based on the ‘Templum’ idea (Frobenius 1968:336).
The criterion that Frobenius used to conclude that it was easier to travel from North Africa to Yorubaland than from Egypt to Yorubaland is not known. Frobenius’s archaeological findings particularly when comparing certain articles and house-forms between North Africa and the Yorubas, are true (Lucas 1948:348), but his conclusions still raise some questions. Firstly, these same Etruscan elements like the hood loom, arrow, Impluvium, Templum and others listed by Frobenius are also widely used in Egypt but Frobenius did not explain how these cultures found their way into Egypt. The presence of Etruscan elements in both Egypt and North Africa suggest that these regions (Egypt and North Africa) were earlier influenced by these elements through their contact with the Etruscans. Lucas (1948:349) says that Frobenius’s view that all monuments of the ancient Atlantic culture are placed on the coast (Frobenius 1968:336) can also be questioned because important Yoruba places like Ile Ife and Offa where these monuments (Etruscan articles) were found are about two hundred miles away from the coast (Lucas 1948:349). As a result, Lucas (1948:351) believes that the Etruscan culture did not originate in Egypt yet the culture passed through Egypt and from there to Yorubaland. 
The limitation concerning this subject is that there are rather very few authors who discussed possible Egyptian cultural influences on the Yorubas, amongst them are Folorunso, Lucas Olumide, and Reverend Samuel Johnson. It is likely that the absence of archaeological evidence for contact between ancient Egypt and Nigeria (Parrinder 1951:200) is one of the reasons for discouraging contemporary research into this possibly ‘new’ field of study. There is a need to stir interest about this subject because of the significance of the Yorubas and of the Egyptians in understanding African anthropology. The aim of this research is not to discuss in detail all that the afterlife entailed for both cultures but to investigate (by comparing the two cultures) whether the Egyptians were responsible for originating or influencing Yoruba afterlife culture and to open up a new debate into the study of ancient Egyptian-Yoruba connections.
Egyptian-Yoruba afterlife connection
Burial rituals 
The ancient Egyptians believed – as the Yorubas do – that a befitting burial for the deceased affects the relationship between the living and the dead. The Yorubas and ancient Egyptians believed that a good burial attracted fortune for the bereaved and the deceased and that a bad burial attracted misfortune for the bereaved and for the deceased (Lucas 1948:253). Both cultures believed that the burial of a loved one is a family and community engagement. Burial processions involving a priest, relatives, the first son and other children of the deceased as well as well-wishers were significant to both traditions. The social role of people in this life is assumed to be maintained in the afterlife by both cultures. Kings would continue to rule and servants would continue to serve their masters in the afterlife, likewise farmers, iron smelters and all people of various professions thought that they would continue with their professions in the afterlife (Adamolekun 2001:610; El-Shahawy 2005:78). 
In addition, in both ancient Egypt and amongst the Yorubas, servants, wives of kings, and loyalists of leaders were buried together with their masters (Awolalu 1979:56–57). At a later stage, sculptures images and animals’ blood were used for burial to represent the king’s loyalists amongst the Yorubas, just as the Egyptians who began to bury their loved ones using images and statues in order to represent the king’s loyalists. Because death was regarded as a journey, ancient Egyptians buried their leaders together with items like clothing, ceremonial oils, canopic jars, water, food and charms (James 1976:158–159). Likewise, the Yorubas bury their kings and wealthy people with items like clothing, food, water, jewellery, silver and money (Awolalu 1979:56–57). Although the Yorubas do not build pyramids in which to bury their loved ones as was done in Egypt, the Yorubas believe that they should bury their leaders, their parents and their loved ones in the most acceptable way by undergoing all the traditional burial rituals. Like the Egyptians who, at a later stage, began to enlarge the size of the graves of their leaders in order to include burial goods (Murnane 1992:35; Partridge 1994:6–7), likewise, the Yorubas enlarge their graves to accompany burial goods (Awolalu 1979:56–57). Some Predynastic Egyptians wrapped the bodies of their deceased in mats (James 1976:155) just as the Yorubas did in the past (Awolalu 1979:172). 
Although both the Yorubas and the Egyptians regarded the heart as the ‘seat of intelligence’ some Yorubas remove the heart of a deceased, not to be stored in a canopic jar as it was done in Egypt (Otey 2004:1), but to be eaten by the king’s successor and, in this case, the heart signifies the deceased’s divinity and power which will be transferred to his successor (Lucas 1948:252–253). The Egyptians, on the other hand, removed all other internal parts of the deceased body leaving behind the heart inside the body which they believed would be judged in the afterlife (El-Shahawy 2005:75–77; James 1976:157–160). For the Yorubas, the heart plays a greater role in the afterlife than the body which they believe will dissolve at death. For the Egyptians, the deceased body was equally important because they believed it would resurrect in its physical form hence the mummification of bodies (Partridge 1994:8). Both the Egyptian and Yoruba traditions attribute a degree of significance to the human heart; they both regarded the heart (of especially leaders) as an organ that has some symbolic life authority or an inheritable divinity in the afterlife.
Harmful spirits of the dead 
The Early Egyptians also believed that the spirit of the deceased lived amongst the living but the Yorubas are more concerned about the ability of the spirit of the dead to either help or harm the living (Adedeji 1983:117; Adamolekun 2001:611). The Yorubas fear the spirit of the dead. The Egyptians did not fear the spirit of the dead. They served the dead and prepared for their death just to seek a good afterlife and not because they feared the spirit of the dead (Wayne & Simonis 1994:15). Jordan says the belief that curses upon the living by the dead was never deeply ingrained in the Egyptian spirit (Jordan 1976:150). The Yorubas fear the spirit of the dead in almost the same way that they fear God. I think that Egyptians had less regard for ancestor worship, reincarnation, transmigration and the fear of the spirit of the dead than the Yorubas who have a high regard for these beliefs. 
MummificationThe Yorubas do not mummify or keep the deceased bodies dry as was done in Egypt and this could be why Lucas (1948) comments that: 
although the Yorubas believe in the preservation of their deceased bodies, the majority of Yoruba tribes did not regard the preservation of the deceased body as highly important as did the Egyptians. (p. 253)
This is why there is little or no evidence amongst the Yorubas regarding the practice of mummification (Lucas 1948:253). There is now virtually no evidence to prove that the Yorubas mummify or have mummified in the past and, even if they did, it was not done in the same way it was done in ancient Egypt. This view is supported by Parrinder (1951:205) who believes that mummification is the one striking difference in burial rituals between the ancient Egyptians and the Yorubas. But he thinks that some West Africans practiced a kind of mummification differently. Contemporary and wealthy Yorubas preserve their deceased loved ones in modern mortuaries for long periods of time whilst preparing for their burials and it seems their penchant for preserving corpses for a long period of time is closely related to those of the ancient Egyptians.
ReincarnationLike other Africans, ancient Egyptians believed in reincarnation, but there is rather very little evidence concerning how they regarded reincarnation and transmigration. Parrinder (1951:116, 205) believes that there are very few traces of the concept of reincarnation amongst ancient Egyptians. The Yorubas, on the other hand, regard reincarnation in high esteem. They believe that it is an honour to be reincarnated and there is no evil connotation attached to those who are reincarnated except for the Ogbanje (Asakitikpi 2008:59–60).
Afterlife journeys 
The Yoruba concept of the location of the world of the dead varies. Some Yorubas think that there is a long journey that awaits all the dead and that this journey involves the crossing of a river. In that river, a ferry man has to be paid to allow the deceased to cross over (Awolalu 1979:57–58). The Egyptians, on the other hand, associated the transporting of a corpse for burial with the crossing of the River Nile using a boat. The Egyptians also linked the resurrection of the dead to the seasonal tides of the Nile (El-Shahawy 2005:75–77). The Egyptian view of crossing the river by a deceased differed from Yoruba traditions, yet both cultures regarded crossing a river as a part of a journey into afterlife. On the route to the final destiny of the dead, the Yorubas believe that the afterlife journey involves a mountain which the deceased must climb or that there is a gate keeper who watches over the gate to the world of the dead. Some say that the final destiny of the dead is located beneath the ground yet others believe that the abode of the dead is invisible and partitioned from the world of the living by a thin object which means that the dead are close to the living (Awolalu 1979:57–58).
The Yorubas believe that the dead go and live in certain villages and market places within the geographical boundaries of Yorubaland. Whenever they are noticed by anyone who knows them, the deceased immediately leave for another destination (Awolalu 1979:57–58). Unconfirmed stories from pupils whose parents died without them knowing, suggest that they have just been visited by the same parents who have died (Awolalu 1979:58). There are Yorubas who claim that the dead visit them in the physical form and not as spirits. According to Yoruba tradition, there seem to be various locations for the dead, yet many Yorubas generally believe that the dead first go to Olódùmarè [God who judges], the source from where the Supreme Being disposes the dead to his (Olódùmarè’s) preferred location (Awolalu 1979:58).
Furthermore, the Yoruba people believe that there are two heavens in the same way as the Egyptians did. The Egyptians believed that one of the heavens was more comfortable than the other and the Yorubas also believe that one of the heavens is good but the other one is the same as Hell, a disrespectful abode for the dead (Ade 2006:12; Murnane 1992:43). The Yoruba concept of ‘hell’ or the ‘Heaven of Potsherd’ which is associated with suffering, wandering, thirst and hunger is the equivalent of the Egyptian netherworld (Ellis 1966:127–128; Lucas 1948:256). The other destiny of the dead called ‘the land of the dead’ or Deadland has been portrayed as a place where the social roles of people on earth is continued to be played. The land of the dead has been portrayed as a distant place to journey to, hence the need for food and water offerings. The Yorubas believe that the social role of a deceased is considered to be replayed in the afterlife as is done in the good Heaven. Egyptians also believed that the social roles of people on earth would continue to be played in heaven and they believed that food and water offerings helped the dead to complete their afterlife journey successfully (Ellis 1966:148–150).
Ancient Egyptians believed and regarded heaven as a pleasant place where kings would continue to be kings. The Yorubas also have these beliefs regarding heaven. The Egyptians believed – as do the Yorubas – that proper funerary rites would enable the deceased to enjoy his or her stay in heaven or Deadland. Like the Yorubas who believe in specific destinies where the wicked would live and be blessed or punished, the Egyptians believed that the most difficult thing after death is the journey of the deceased soul through the desert and the dark netherworld. Ancient Egyptians thought that Re would save certain people who were loyal to the laws of order from suffering in the netherworld which would be a temporary experience (Davies 1999:27). There exist more similarities than dissimilarities regarding the afterlife beliefs between the Yorubas and ancient Egyptians but why do these similarities and differences exists? Did the ancient Egyptians actually migrate or have contact with the Yorubas? If yes, who influenced whom between these two cultures and if not, where is the origin of the Yoruba culture?
Did the ancient Egyptians have contact with the Yorubas? 
Both the Egyptians and the Phoenicians travelled to West Africa for adventure, in search of slaves, ivory, incense, gold, and other minerals (cf. Boshoff & Scheffler 2000:38; Clark 1970:15, 219; Lange 2004:277, 279; Le Roux 2008:7). They travelled by sea and by land. When they travelled by sea, their boats were made to sail on the Nile (Burland 1957:61–62). Many writers of West African history believe that Egyptians did travel to Nigeria. It is debatable whether they trekked or they used camels or donkeys to travel. The specific routes those Egyptians chose and the exact distance between ancient Egypt and Nigeria either by road or by sea is unknown except by modern means. The lack of or the fact of insufficient archaeological evidence surrounding the theory of migration between Egypt and Nigeria has made researchers to rely on very few historical documents, informed speculations, oral history and the evidence of probable remnants of Egyptian culture in Yorubaland. 
For example, Etruscan culture found its way into Egypt, North Africa and Yorubaland. Both Lucas and Frobenius agree that it is true that elements of Etruscan culture found their way to the Yorubas either from Egypt or from North Africa to Yorubaland. But the routes through which those elements of Etruscan culture found their way into Yorubaland remains the bone of contention. Lucas (1948:351) believes that Etruscan culture did not originate in Egypt, yet the culture passed through Egypt and from Egypt to Yorubaland. Lucas (1948:351) noted that Etruscan communities called Turs or Tursh or Turishas actually lived in ancient Egypt and this made it possible to assume that Etruscan elements travelled along with ancient Egyptians to Yorubaland by way of the interior, that is, through the Sudan. Lucas (1948:352) thinks that it was possible to travel by sea and also by road from Egypt straight to the Sudan and to Nigeria without first passing through North Africa.Lucas (1948) says that:
evidence is available that the transmission of the ancient Egypt culture followed a trans-continental route from Egypt to the western shores of Africa. (p. 352)
In order to backup his argument, Lucas presented the views of Sir Wallis Budge who said that during the Persian wars with Egypt, Herodotus testified to the fact that over 20 000 cities lined the banks of the Nile and expressed the opinion that people must have gone to West Africa from Egypt (Lucas 1948:349). After his research on the subject under study, Parrinder (1951) traced probable routes of communication from the Upper Nile, skirting the tropical forest eastward along the Sudan to the old western Sudanese kingdoms, such as Gao, Ghana, Djene, Timbuktu (in Mali) to the coast of Guinea and the Bight of Benin (in Nigeria):
The gap of desert between the Upper Nile and Nigerian Sudan is now impassable except by modern means of transport owing to the lack of water, but there are signs of ancient wells, at intervals, that might have allowed a crossing in the distant past … hence there may have been earlier communications, possibly in the pre-dynastic and early dynastic Egyptian periods (Parrinder 1951:198).
This contradicts Frobenius’s notion, who said that Etruscan culture did not pass through the interior (Sudan). One of the main reasons for Frobenius’s rejection of Egypt or the North-East as the main influencer of Yoruba culture is that, he thinks there is no historical backing that supports a route by land or by sea which shows any convenient form of migration between Egypt, through the Sudan to Yorubaland but he thinks that one exists from North Africa directly to Yorubaland. Frobenius believes that North Africa interacted more with the southern fringe of the Sahara than Egypt did (Frobenius 1968:325–326; cf. Lucas 1970:400). Frobenius’s exclusion of the Sudan as a route for the transfer of Etruscan culture to Yorubaland has been prompted by the fact that these Etruscan elements are not found in the Sudan. 
Moreover, Lucas (1948:351) suggests that the absence of similar cultures in the Sudan can be explained by the supposition that immigrants from Egypt (who carried with them some kind of Etruscan culture) would find it hard to settle in the arid desert of the sub-tropical climate of the Sudan and that the influence of the Etruscans from Egypt could only be felt permanently in Yorubaland, where geographical conditions support a prolonged visit or temporary settlement (Lucas 1948:351). Burland (1957:62) also noted that the hot swampy nature of the Sudan which attracted other Negros and the Egyptians for trade was not attractive for the permanent settlement of those Egyptians. This researcher supports the view that there could have been a possible migration of Egyptians from Egypt through North Africa to Nigeria but favours the Sudan routes for the following reasons:
Sudan was a part of the political empire of ancient Egypt hence communication was made easier. The ancient kingdom of Kush, a name given to the kingdom which lay to the southern borders of ancient Egypt spread over what is referred to today as the Republic of Sudan (both north and south) and like Egypt, depended on the Nile for its life (Shinnie 1965:23). 
The fact that the Nile flows into the Sudan (Jordan 1976:26) could have allowed easier access from Egypt to Sudan. 
Some of the Phoenicians who went to Egypt in search of gold, metals, weapons, textile and slaves extended their search to Central Sudan from Egypt (Boshoff & Scheffler 2000:38; Lange 2004:277–278). Because the Phoenicians passed through the Sudan, it thus suggests that there was a route and perhaps an easier or convenient route from Egypt to Sudan. The fact that Egypt depended on the regions across the upper Nile, Dafur and West Africa for the supply of Black slaves (Lange 2004:279) suggests that Sudan was convenient for travel to Nigeria. However, whether the Sudan route or the North African route was used in preference by those Egyptian migrants, it is said that they all passed through Lake Chad until they arrived at the other regions of Nigeria. Lange (2004) says that these were the preferred routes for those traders:
the central Saharan route leading from Tripoli via Fezzan and Kawar to Lake Chad may also have been in ancient times the main provider of black slaves either by way of Leptis Magna, its direct Mediterranean outlet, or indirectly via Carthage or Egypt. (p. 279)
The Kingdom of Kanem Borno was part of Lake Chad, a place to which both Phoenicians and Egyptians travelled (Lange 2004:280, 284). The old empire of Kenem comprised parts of the Republics of Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria (Lavers 2004:187). In the past, Borno was regarded as a region of Lake Chad (Lavers 2004:187). The most serious challenge concerning this research is the absence of geographical evidence about the specific migration routes assumedly used by the Egyptians especially from Egypt to Kenem-Borno, and from Kenem-Borno to Yorubaland. Even though there may have been contact between ancient Egypt and Nigeria, yet there is no specific evidence of specific individuals who came from Egypt to form the Yoruba race or lived in Yorubaland. The Yoruba culture is unique itself and is comparable to no other tribe in Nigeria (Shinnie 1965:79). Thus where and how did the Yoruba afterlife culture found its way into Yorubaland?
The origins of the afterlife beliefs
From early humans 
In this research, it is alleged that the culture of modern humans has been derived from the cultures of early humans. The technicalities in detail involving the transmission or transfer of the afterlife beliefs from early human ancestors to modern humans are beyond the scope of this study. However, Neanderthals are discussed in detail due to their relevance with regard to the origins of the afterlife beliefs. Homo is a term used to designate the genus of different hominid species from which man is said to have originated (Agai 2005:62–70) and according to the biological theory of human evolution, there exist three species of early humans, namely Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) and Homo sapiens. Homo heidelbergensis was found in Germany in 1907. Generally, H. heidelbergensis had a thick ridge over the eye socket, a large brain, a forehead, a nasal bone similar to H. sapiens, and a bony ridge that ran along the midline of the skull. Raven and Johnson (1999:458) say that H. heidelbergensis originated from Ethiopia about 600 000 years ago.
Homo neanderthalensis arrived in Europe from Africa about 13 000 years ago. Neanderthals flourished during the Last Ice Age, they possessed a strong jaw and were generally powerful and intelligent. They hunted, made tools, cooked and lived mostly in caves. Despite the mental powers found in H. neanderthalensis, they were neither farmers nor livestock keepers (Wadud 1971:206–207). The emergence of modern humans started when Neanderthals were replaced by H. sapiens. Some species of early humans are said to have originated from H. neanderthalensis (Jordan 1976:28). Many archaeologists are of the opinion that there is now good evidence that the Neanderthals themselves have evolved directly into modern humans (Leakey 1982:60), and some went as far as to say that they could believe that Neanderthals were humans and not some forms of animal-like beings which evolved to modern humans (Constable 1973:97). The Neanderthal man is significant in the study of early human culture because of the way it is said that they valued religious practices and were intelligent in their activities. They had good communication system (Clark 1970:145–146), they made caves wherever they found themselves and they lived a social life and were skilful in the use of tools (Caldwell & Gyles 1966:9). Such cultural and technical proficiencies made researchers begin to associate almost all remains that have religious significance to the Neanderthal man (Hultkrantz 1982:22).
Archaeologists have found the burial remains of Neanderthals in numerous graves in different parts of the world, these include: Neander Valley in Germany, Spy in Belgium, the cave of La Chapelle-aux-Saints in France, Shanidar cave in northern Iraq (Constable 1973:97–101), Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia (Clark 1970:120), and the limestone cave in Greece, and in many more places (Leakey 1982:52–53). Inside these graves, evidence was found of food offerings to the dead and burial goods like awls and scrapers. MacGregor (1992:55–56) says that Neanderthals buried their loved ones together with flint implements and that they continued to serve food to the dead. This suggests that Neanderthals thought that death was a continuation of life, a journey to another realm and that the dead needed to be fed on this journey (MacGregor 1992:55–56). Caldwell and Gyles (1966:9) also say that these burial activities of the Neanderthal found by archaeologist indicate for the first time a culture of ceremonial burial practiced amongst these early humans. They added that Neanderthals buried in fully excavated graves often near a fireplace and with food or a piece of meat to be used by the deceased in the afterlife (Caldwell & Gyles 1966:9). The views of Caldwell and Gyles are further supported by Hultkrantz (1982) who says that Neanderthal had careful burial ceremonies because they might have believed in the afterlife. He cited examples of the cave of Shanidah in northern Iraq where a dead person was buried in a heap of stones resting on the bed of many flowers. Also, the cave Monte Circeo in Italy was found to have contained a human skull within a small circle of stones, an example of the so-called ‘skull burial’ (Hultkrantz 1982:24). It is difficult to ascertain why Neanderthals buried their dead with items and with elaborative ceremonies except for the idea of the afterlife.
In Ancient Egypt
Traces of the remains of early humans, from Australopithecus through Homo erectus (‘Pekin Man’-type) to the Neanderthal form of H. sapiens, have never been found in ancient Egypt (Jordan 1976:28). Redford (2006:11) also says that there are no human remains from the early Ice Age or the Lower Palaeolithic in Egypt. Redford (2006:11) believes that in ancient Egypt, humans first appeared only when they had already developed the ability to manufacture artefacts and to transform their environment, and that this development had taken place about 350 000 years ago. Burland (1957:12–13) also noted that the first people who came to Egypt were Stone Age hunters thus suggesting modern humans. Some scanty archaeological evidence supporting prehistoric human activities in Egypt has been found; the earliest are stone tools and bones. Ordinary hand axes, finer hand axes and flakes of flint have been found from the Kharga Oasis, south of the Fayum and west of Luxor (Jordan 1976:28). These artefacts, in the form of Chellean and Acheulian hand axes, found in the desert and borders of the Nile, present possible evidence of local adaptation in ancient Egypt (Redford 2006:11). 
The absence of evidence for the existence of early human ancestors (Australopithecus, H. neanderthalensis, etc.) in ancient Egypt suggests that Egypt was first occupied by modern humans and not necessarily by early human ancestors. The origins of afterlife beliefs in ancient Egypt is at present not fully understood and the absence of evidence for the existence of Neanderthals in Egypt suggests that early human beings who migrated to or lived in Egypt were responsible for introducing and spreading the belief in that region. Mummification is also significant in this regard. During the pre-dynastic period, corpses were simply buried in shallow graves and the natural warm weather of ancient Egypt naturally removed moisture from the corpses (Murnane 1992:37) and this process could be the precursor of applied mummification (Jordan 1976:144–145). The question arises whether the mummification of bodies led to the beliefs in the afterlife or whether the belief in the afterlife led to the practice of mummification. The answer to the said rhetoric question is still uncertain and under study, but one thing that is certain is, that the development of the process of mummification over a period of time has contributed to the development of Egyptian ideas about the afterlife. Egyptians might have begun to believe in the afterlife before the pre-dynastic period, some time around 8300 BCE through 4500 BCE (that is before the practice of mummification was formalised). In other words, Egyptians might have begun to believe in the afterlife over 3487 years ago when mummification began to be practiced in Egypt or over 35 000 years ago when humans began to intrude Egypt.
Amongst the Yorubas
Falola and Heaton (2010:17–18) stress that early pioneers of the region of Nigeria have used tools made of wood, bones and stones. Shaw (2004:25–26) added that in Nigeria stone tools were mostly used in the form of pebbles or lumps popularly known as Oldowan-type tools named after the Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania. Omolewa (2008:15) confirmed that archaeologists have found early stone tools used for hunting in the Jos Plateau, Afikpo in Imo, Iwo Eleru in Ondo and Mejiro in the Old Oyo State. Omolewa, Falola and Heaton believed that the early people that resided in Nigeria used Oldowan-type tools because of the geological evidence that has been found in some parts of Nigeria (at Beli on the River Taraba) showing the age of some rock deposits similar to the Oldowan-type tools (Shaw 2004:25–26). However, the connection between those early inhabitants of Nigeria and the found geological evidence is not proven.
Apart from stone tools, there is evidence of the use of iron tools by humans in Nigeria, and Omolewa (2008:15) thinks that those humans in Nigeria have advanced from the Early Stone Age – where they used stone tools – to the Early Iron Age where they began to use metals tools. It is important to note that according to the Nok terracottas the activities of iron smelting in Nigeria is explained but detailed information about the arrival of the first humans to occupy Nigeria cannot be given. It is therefore difficult to estimate exactly the date when humans began to inhabit the various regions of Nigeria, but evidence from the use of Late Stone Age objects (65 000 BCE), the Iwo Eleru rock (9000 BCE), animal husbandry since 3000 BCE – 2000 BCE and evidence from Nok sculptures (500 BCE – 200CE) all suggest that humans have lived in Nigeria before the Stone Age civilisation 65 000 BCE (cf. Omolewa 2008:15). With regard to the regions occupied by the Yorubas of Nigeria, one of the first human remains was found in a cave at Iwo Eleru rock (in Yorubaland) and has been dated to 9000 BCE. Based on Falola and Heaton’s findings, early humans must have lived in Iwo Eleru long before 9000 BCE (Falola & Heaton 2010:19). The discovery was made in 1965. The burial site is associated with microlithic industry and, although a detailed report has yet to be released, preliminary examination suggests that the remains are Negroid in character (Clark 1970:165). If the remains are assumed to be those of the ancestors of the Yorubas, this does not provide enough knowledge on when and on how to Yorubas began to believe in the afterlife.
ConclusionThis research has not been able to establish clearly the claim that Egyptians migrated or had contact with Yoruba ancestors or Yoruba people. One cannot identify specific individuals both of Egyptian or Yoruba origins who met either in Yorubaland or in Egypt. It is indeed a fact that certain Yoruba cultures like the afterlife beliefs, languages, customs and many more are similar yet there are few differences that exist between these two cultures. The absence of clear ancient times migration routes from North Africa and from Egypt to Kanem Borno in Nigeria and most importantly from Kanem Borno to Yorubaland poses a serious challenge to the ideas that the Egyptians gave rise to the Yoruba people and their culture; it also raises questions about the credibility of the Oduduwa legend whereby the origin of the main character in the legend is credited to have come from Egypt or Mecca. Lucas (1970:373) believes that all West African culture including those of the Yorubas had some primitive origins and that it is illogical to think that each tribe in West Africa was responsible for forming an independent culture. He noted that differences found in some West African cultures are due to the fact that no culture is static. This could have been the reason which made Lucas and other writers think that Yoruba culture did not originate or develop independently. Therefore, many Yoruba people I interviewed said that they originated in Egypt or ‘east’, and researchers like Lucas, Johnson, Folorunso, Parrinder and Frobenius who relied on cultural comparison say that the Yorubas were highly influenced by the Egyptians or by Etruscan culture or that the Yorubas originated in Egypt, have succeeded in opening-up an academic spark with regard to the origins of Yoruba culture which needs more investigation. 
This researcher is not disputing the possibility that the Yoruba culture might have been influenced by some foreign cultures, but in the absence of evidence of contact between Etruscans or ancient Egyptians and the Yorubas; he is of the opinion that Yoruba afterlife culture has originated through the process of ‘parallel evolution’. The idea of parallel evolution teaches that the same species of early human ancestors evolved in various locations and developed abilities and characters that suited their specific environmental needs. The rainforest nature of many parts of West Africa including the Yorubaland (cf. Shinnie 1965:76) might have attracted the existence of early humans, and it is no surprise that Clark (1970:120–122) suggests that Neanderthals lived in the higher regions of West Africa and that West Africa is the place where the African Negro evolved from Neanderthal species. Fossils of early human ancestors, particularly of Australopithecus, were also found in Lake Chad (Pfeiffer 1970:94), a geographical neighbour of Nigeria. It is yet to be proven, that Neanderthals might have lived in Nigeria (Yorubaland) and developed their afterlife beliefs according to their environmental challenges. This explains why differences exist (like punishment in the afterlife, fear of the spirit of the dead, reincarnation, mummification and building of pyramids) between the Egyptian and Yoruba afterlife beliefs. The similarities in the afterlife beliefs between these two cultures exist because Neanderthals were globally of various species yet they are the same beings with the same beliefs and they are responsible for originating and spreading the afterlife beliefs in Yorubaland.
In conclusion, this researcher is of the opinion that the Egyptians are not the originators or founders of afterlife beliefs and they did not influence or are the origin of Yoruba afterlife beliefs. This researcher believes that Neanderthals or some similar kinds of early humans lived in Nigeria (Yorubaland) and they introduced or influenced Yoruba afterlife beliefs through some forms of interbreeding by the unknown earlier occupiers of Yorubaland. Early ancestors of the Yorubas continued to develop their afterlife beliefs according to their cognitive understanding with regard to their environments, for example, Egyptian climate supported mummification unlike in Yorubaland. More studies need to be carried out in this regard.
AcknowledgementsCompeting interests
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationship(s) which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article. 
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