| Africa | |
|---|---|
Goddess of Fertility and Fortune | |
 | |
| Other names | Ifri, Ifru, Dea Patria (goddess of the homeland) |
| Venerated in | Africa Preconsularis,Numidia |
| Affiliation | Numitheism,Roman Pantheon |
| Major cult centre | Thimugadi,Algeria[1] |
| Abode | North Africa, Caves |
| Gender | Female |
| Temple | |
| Genealogy | |
| Offspring | FourSeasons |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Demeter,Gaia |
| Roman | Ceres,Terra |
The GoddessAfrica, in LatinDea Africa, was thepersonification ofAfrica by the Romans in the early centuries of the common era.[5][6] She was one of the fertility and abundance deities in North Africa worshiped originally by theberbers especially those of tribe of Ifri.[7][8][9] Her iconography typically included an elephant-mask head dress, acornucopia, a military standard, and a lion.[10]
To the Romans, "Africa" was only their imperial province, roughly equating to modern north-eastAlgeria,Tunisia and coastalLibya,[11] and the goddess/personification was not givensub-Saharan African characteristics; she was thought of asBerber.[12][5] Especially after she was revived in the Renaissance, by now clearly only the personification of Africa with no divine pretensions.[13][14]
Afri was aLatin name used to refer to the inhabitants of what was then known asnorthern Africa, located west of theNile river, and in its widest sense referring to all lands south of theMediterranean, also known asAncient Libya.[15] This name seems to have originally referred to a native Libyan tribe, an ancestor of modernBerbers.[16]
Africa is also known from theBerber wordifri (pluralifran) meaning "cave"[17][18] The same word[18] may be found in the name of theBanu Ifran fromAlgeria andTripolitania, a Berber tribe originally fromYafran (also known asIfrane) in northwesternLibya.[19]
She is portrayed on some coins, carved stones, and mosaics inRoman Africa. A mosaic representingRoman Africa is found in theEl Djem museum of Tunisia.[4][20][21] A sanctuary found inTimgad (Thamugadi in Berber) inAlgeria features goddess Africa's iconography.[22] In Timgad, she was the main goddess of the great sanctuary of theAqua Septimiana Felix, where she was worshipped asDea Patria (goddess of the homeland).[23]
To the Romans the distinction between goddesses who received worship and personification figures understood to be literary and iconographic conveniences was very elastic, and Africa seems to have been on the boundary between the two. She was certainly not a major deity but may have received worship at times.
Pliny the Elder, in his bookNatural History, wrote "in Africa nemo destinat aliquid nisi praefatus Africam", which scholars translate as "no one in Africa does anything without first calling on Africa".[24] This has been the literary proof of her existence and importance, in some cases interpreted as a proof for a North African goddess-centric cult. Other writers have also interpreted the female personification of Africa to be a "Dea" or goddess.[25]
She was one of a number of "province personifications" such asBritannia,Hispania,Macedonia and a number of Greek-speaking provinces. Africa was one of the earliest to appear and may have originated with the publicity aroundPompey the Great's African triumph in 80 BC; some coins with both Pompey and Africa shown survive.[26]
The elephant headdress is seen first on coins depictingAlexander the Great, commemorating his invasion of India, including the (possibly fake) "Porus medallions" issued during his lifetime and the coinage ofPtolemy I ofEgypt issued from 319 to 294 BC.[27] It may have had resonances withPharaonic ideology.[27] The image was later adopted on coinage ofAgathocles of Syracuse minted around 304 BC, following his African Expedition.[28] Subsequently it is seen on coinage of King Ibaras ofNumidia, a kingdom that Pompey defeated in 1st century BCE, so very likely picked up from there by Pompey's image-makers.[26]
Maritz, however, has questioned whether personified Africa was ever a "Dea" or goddess to Romans, or anywhere else. The iconographic images of "Dea Africa" with elephant scalp head dress was just a Roman icon for Africa, states Maritz. This is likely because neither Pliny nor any writer thereafter ever described her as "Dea", nor is there an epigraphical inscription stating "Dea Africa". In contrast, other Roman goddesses carry the prefix "Dea" in texts and inscriptions. Romans already had their own goddesses of fertility and abundance, states Maritz, and there was no need for a competing goddess with the same role.[29]
In the Renaissance Africa was revived, along with other personifications, and was, by the 17th century, usually given a dark complexion, curly hair and a broad nose, in addition to her Roman attributes.[30] She was a necessary part of images of theFour Continents, which were popular in several media.
Etymology: The Latin designation (Africa) originally meant the land of the Afri, an indigenous tribe of present-day northern Tunisia, often confused with the Carthaginians, but Livy clearly distinguishes the Afri from the Carthaginians:- "Hasdrubal placed the Carthaginians on the right wing and the Afri on the left"- "the Carthaginians and the African veterans"- "the Carthaginians had Afri and Numidians as mercenaries"- "the horsemen of the Libyphoenicians, a Carthaginian tribe mixed with Afri
Africa. From the name of an ancient tribe in Tunisia, theAfri (adjective:Afer). The name is still extant today asIfira andIfri-n-Dellal in Greater Kabylia (Algeria). A Berber tribe was calledBeni-Ifren in the Middle Ages andIfurace was the name of a Tripolitan people in the 6th century. The name is from the Berber languageifri 'cave'. Troglodytism was frequent in northern Africa and still occurs today in southern Tunisia. Herodote wrote that the Garamantes, a North African people, used to live in caves. The Ancient Greek calledtroglodytēs an African people who lived in caves.Africa was coined by the Romans and'Ifriqiyeh' is the arabized Latin name. (Most details from Decret & Fantar, 1981).
| Deities (Dii Consentes) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Legendary figures | ||
| Legendary beings | ||
| Texts | ||
| Concepts and practices | ||
| Philosophy | ||
| Events | ||
| Objects | ||
| Variations | ||
| See also | ||