Prostration among the Yoruba and the Israelites
Idọbalẹ agba ni iṣ’ọmọ lẹgbẹ keredudu-keredudu.Respect for age is the fountain of blessings for youth.Ifa proverb
Deeply ingrained within the tradition of the Yoruba people of West Africa is the unique way of greeting elders and the Oba (King) by the males, commonly known as prostration(doba’le).
This is a posture that involves falling flat on one’s face as a sign of respect and worship. It has been a peculiar part of the culture that any male that does not practice it when considered necessary is seen as very disrespectful and having shameful character and morals. The origin and reason may have been forgotten with time or perhaps one has to look at the root of the word doba’le and/or search deep within the Ifa literary corpus to shed more light on it. However, the practice is being watered down as a result of the introduction of the handshake that was introduced by European colonialists. Personally, I consider handshakes to be a candidate for consideration as a public health nuisance. Prostration is still observed by some Yoruba Christians during prayer and worship which he considers as normal instead of during special occasions, and in deference to an Oba. For females the greeting, also known as ikun’le, is done by bowing on one or both knees.
Interestingly, the Bible mentions many incidents in which greeting, deference and worship involved a similar or exact style of prostration. There are probably over a hundred verses from Genesis to Revelations where it is mentioned either as prostrate or fall on the faceor bow to the earth or even worship.
However, it seems the people who call themselves Jews today and occupy the land of Israel only prostrate during prayer and worship while some do it on certain days. I am yet to come across any mention of the practice being associated with other activities like greeting elders including their priests, and non-religious events like weddings. Could the reason be that they are not the descendants of Jacob and thus it was alien to them when they adopted Judaism?
Furthermore, it appears that prostration is alien to the Igbo culture of which some of her people have claimed to have descended from the Jews – the tribe of Gad. Some have looked down on the Yoruba for posturing thus in showing respect for elders. If these look with scorn at those who prostrate then how would they react to seeing that Abraham, Jacob, Moses, the prophets and so on did same?
I have more questions like
- Are there any other groups of people within the Niger-Congo and Afro-Asiatic language families that practice prostration as part of daily life like the Yoruba?
- Did the Lemba, Ethiopians, Nubians and original Egyptians prostrate likewise?
http://yemitom.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/prostration-among-the-yoruba-and-the-israelites/
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