Analiza biblijnych odniesień w genezie ludu Ewe na podstawie przekazów ustnych o królu Agokoli
The Analysis of Biblical References in the Genesis of Ewe People Based on Oral History about the King Agokoli

Summary/Abstract: The author’s intent is to analyse the Biblical references in the genesis of the Ewe people on the basis of oral traditions about the King Agokoli. In 1960s, when Western African countries gained independence, in Togo a pan-Ewe mono-ethnic movement became active that aimed at the uniting of the Ewe people and the creation of a single state, regardless of the existing political border between Ghana and Togo. In support of its claims, the leaders of the movement referred to the historicity of King Agokoli – the father of the Ewe people.Depending on the methods of interpreting the historical sources and oral tradition, the researchers set out several hypotheses concerning to Genesis of the Ewe people. R. Pazzi, pointing to the similarity of terminology in Egyptian and Ewe languages, claims that the Adja-Ewe people comes from Ethiopia. R. Cornevin, basing on archaeological research, situates the beginning of the Ewe people in Nigeria, among the Yoruba people. J. Spieth and C. Reindorf, basing on the analogy to message of the Decalogue and traditions of the Nyiko-Ewe peoples, indicate the Biblical origin of the Ewe people (Israel in Egyptian slavery). A. Kobla Dotse also argues that the Ewe’s customs and rituals come from the Egyptians and the Hebrews.H. Kwakume, analysing the remittances of the oral tradition, situates the origins of the Ewe people in Nigeria (Ketu). The researcher also shows that the people did not glorify King Agokoli due to his tyranny. Only the ideological reinterpretation of the history of King Agokoli in the 1960s – in the context of the claims for independence – exalted him to the galaxy of the great, mythical Black African chefs.

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