Answer to Question #203203 in History for sibusiso

Question

Using relevant examples explain any three (03) relevant and appropriate theories of African indigenous astronomy research.

Answer 1

Astrobite examines the relationship between women and the night sky in African societies, based on one of her latest papers about indigenous African astronomy. The stories and beliefs that surround the night sky are reflections of the culture that creates them and its ideals; as a result, the goal of this research is to look at feminine celestial bodies to understand “how the idealized role of women is projected onto the sky and how the behavior of celestial bodies is projected onto women” in various cultures. The moon phases change on a 29-day cycle as the moon circles around the Earth, changing our view on how it is illuminated by the Sun, according to the notion of women and the moon. Humans have a 28-day menstrual cycle, which strangely takes the same length of time. Because these two periodic cycles are so close together, civilizations frequently link them, sometimes causally (that is, the Moon causes menstruation). The phases of the moon are used by some populations, such as the Dinka women of Sudan, to chart menstruation cycles. Besides, the Pleiades are a tight cluster of stars that can be seen clearly in the night sky, according to the "Girls of the Night" theory. There are six primary stars, which are commonly referred to as a group of sisters or a clutch of eggs. Other celestial beings, such as the famed Egyptian Sun god Ra, regard the Sun to be masculine in most of Africa. A few civilizations, however, regard the Sun to be female, either permanently or as it moves through the sky. When the Sun is lower in the sky and less harsh, the Sandawe of Tanzania consider it less manly, and when it reaches its peak, it becomes more manly. The Moon is masculine in Hausa and a few other Berber languages, and the Sun is its mother, pursuing it around the sky.