This is exactly how the word pygmalios is translated from Greek, which is the name given to the smallest people living in the tropical forests of Africa. There is an assumption that the pygmies once occupied all of Central Africa, but were then driven out by other tribes. Today they can be found in the forests of Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda and the Central African Republic.
To this day, the origin of the pygmies remains a scientific mystery. They have no legends, no myths, no fairy tales that could help solve it. Nevertheless, this people has been known since ancient times.
Colorful myths about real people
The first mentions of strange little people are in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. The story of the Egyptian Khufhor, a nobleman from the era of the Old Kingdom, has been preserved, in which he boasts that he brought a dwarf from his campaign. It was intended for the amusement of the young king and was called “dng”. It is significant that even today this name has been preserved in the languages of the peoples of Ethiopia, in which the dwarf is called “deng” or “dat”.
Many centuries later, Homer wrote about fabulous dwarfs who were no larger than frogs in size and often became victims of cranes. In his work, cranes appear as people from the other world, and the meaning of the myth is in the struggle of life and death.
Some ancient scientists explain the enmity between pygmies and cranes by the transformation of a pygmy girl who was at enmity with the tribe into a crane. At the same time, it is not entirely clear whether we are talking about real Africans or mythical creatures.
Typically, pygmies in Greek myth-making are a fabulous people of dwarfs living in Libya or Asia Minor. They ranged in size from an ant to a monkey. According to the “father of history” Herodotus, the pygmies are a special tribe living in Africa in the upper reaches of the Nile. According to him, they are closely connected with the cult of the fertility god Nile and are identified with the dwarfs, surrounded by whom the Nile was depicted. Hence the idea of pygmies as an agricultural tribe, hairy and black men living in the fertile layer of the earth.
However, Aristotle considered the pygmies to be a very real people. In turn, the geographer Strabo listed them along with large-headed, noseless, cyclops, half-dogs and other mythical creatures of antiquity. An indicative legend is in which Hercules defeated the son of the earth goddess, the Libyan giant Antaeus. When the hero was resting after the fight, he was attacked with weapons by pygmies who lived, like ants, in the sand. Hercules took them all into the lion's skin and took them with him. Perhaps the legends about pygmies among the Egyptians and Greeks are associated with the existence of dwarfs in tropical Africa. After all, their images are on frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum. And a favorite subject on Greek vases was the comic war of pygmies with cranes.
In the 7th century, Chinese historian Li Tai described in detail dwarfs 90 centimeters tall living south of the Roman Empire. His information strangely intersects with ancient Greek mythology. Europeans first encountered the short Matimba people in West Africa back in the 16th-17th centuries. And in the 19th century, the existence of pygmies was finally confirmed by German and Russian researchers.
Sun Avoiders
It turned out that in Africa there really is the smallest people in the world. In pygmy men, height ranges from 142-150 centimeters. They are characterized by a large body on short legs, light brown skin, curly dark hair and thin lips. But there are tribes in which the average height of men does not exceed 141 centimeters, and women - 130-132 centimeters. Despite the fact that these people resemble Negroids, they are considered a separate race. The exact number of members of the tribe is not known. According to various sources, their number ranges from 40 to 280 thousand people. The average life expectancy for men is no more than 45 years, while women live a little longer.
Because of their height and other differences, these people always experienced a lot of misfortune and humiliation from their taller neighbors. Before the settlement of the Bantu, the pygmies occupied all of Central Africa, but then they were forced out of the most favorable places into the green hell of the equatorial forests. Now they are so accustomed to living in the thicket that they cannot stand the direct rays of the sun, and once in the open, they try to return to their native wilds as quickly as possible. Ordinary Africans despise their little neighbors. Because of this, pygmies almost do not mix with other tribes, although cases of strange men marrying tiny women still happen.
When white people appeared, little Africans had even more problems. Some “civilized” travelers and colonial officials at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries looked at the pygmies as a rare curiosity. There are known cases when they were taken to Europe and the USA, where adults, and especially their children, were sold as living exhibits to zoos. There they were shown to idle onlookers along with exotic wild animals from around the world.
Today in the West this is impossible. But at home the situation has remained virtually unchanged. It’s hard to believe, but in Africa there is still a belief that by killing and eating a pygmy, you can get magical power that protects against witchcraft. And this is not only a belief, but also a practice. Not only in the distant past, but literally today - during the civil war in the Congo in 1998-2003, pygmies were caught and eaten like wild animals.
But those tribes on whose territory minerals are found are especially unlucky. In this case, the local residents are simply exterminated. For these purposes, there is even a sect of “erasers”, whose members not only kill pygmies, but also feed on their flesh.
In the 21st century, slavery is prohibited in all countries. But in the same Republic of the Congo, there are still pygmy slaves in Bantu families, who are passed on by inheritance. It is almost impossible to eradicate this phenomenon, since the slaves themselves do not protest against their situation. On the contrary, despite their lack of rights, they are convinced that without living together with the Bantu they can only get worse.
Rainforest dwarfs
The life of pygmies is invariably connected with the forest. In the tropical wilds they get their food, marry, give birth to children and die. Pygmies do not engage in agriculture, preferring gathering and hunting. Therefore, they lead a nomadic lifestyle and leave their camp only when there is no game or edible plants left around it or someone dies. These people are very superstitious, since the death of a fellow tribesman is explained by the fact that the forest does not want them to live in this place. Resettlement takes place within existing borders with neighbors, since hunting on someone else's land can become a cause for conflict.
The main occupation of pygmy men is hunting birds, monkeys, antelopes, deer and other forest inhabitants. Unlike professional hunters, they never kill an animal unless necessary and do not store meat for future use. The prey is always divided fairly and eaten immediately after the hunt. Seasonal activity is fishing. When fishing, pygmies use special grass, which is thrown into the water, and the fish falls asleep, but does not die. The catch is collected downstream. The tropical jungle is not only a home, but also a constant threat to people. They are infested with various dangerous animals, which even hunters are wary of. They are especially afraid of pythons. If you accidentally step on a python, there is practically no chance of salvation, and life ends in the deadly embrace of the snake.
A significant portion of the pygmies' diet is honey, but they also eat fruits, berries, various roots and plants, as well as worms, larvae, snails, frogs and snakes.
Meat in the forest menu makes up only 9%, while at least 50% consists of vegetables and fruits, which are bartered with neighbors in exchange for gifts from the jungle.
The life of little people who live in the jungle is devoid of romance and consists of a constant struggle for survival. The main task of each of them is to obtain food, so a successful hunt is the most desirable reason for celebration and feast. After a hearty meal, they sing and dance passionately. In these cases, the roar of drums can sound in the jungle for 4-5 hours in a row, or even all night. And in the morning we have to look for food again. And so on from year to year, and so on throughout life, until civilization destroys primitive traditions.
Evgeniy YAROVOY
05/11/2017 Read the draft as a regular Article. Artyom Krivich ordered a program for our work, but to reduce our stay in Comte. What if... we write something bad? We are children and don’t know how to think?
Pygmies. People the size of a fist
©Fotodom.ru/Rex Features
Perhaps few of us know who Negrillis are.
But everyone has heard about pygmies.
Strictly speaking, these are one and the same people.
Translated from Greek, pygmies mean “people the size of a fist.”
Although height is from 124 to 150 cm for adult men
(for comparison, this is the height of schoolchildren)
hardly associated with such a size as a fist, after all, they are really small!
2. Pygmies are not a single people, but different tribes: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batwa and others. The approximate number of pygmies ranges from 40 to 280 thousand people. The pygmies do not have their own language; they borrowed the language from their neighbors, in particular from the Bantu. Based on their language and hunting methods, they are divided into three groups: Efe, Sua, and Aka. Efe hunt with bows; sua, and aka - with networks.
3. Pygmies hunt deer, antelope and monkeys. They collect fruits and honey. They mainly exchange their catch for vegetables, metal, fabrics or tobacco. The main hunting weapon is a bow with arrows with metal tips, which are often poisoned. Fish are caught by poisoning water bodies for a short time with plant poisons.
4. The life expectancy of pygmies is from 16 to 24 years. 40-year-old men and women are real centenarians. They reach sexual maturity at the age of 12 and begin producing their own kind at the age of fifteen. If there are several wives, they live in separate huts. The neighbors of the Bantu pygmies willingly take pygmies as wives and do not even pay a ransom. The pygmies are unhappy with this, since the Bantu do not pass off their girls as pygmies.
5. Some anthropologists classify dwarf peoples as pygmies, where the height of an adult man does not exceed 155 centimeters. In their opinion, pygmies live not only in Africa, but also in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bolivia and Brazil. Regarding the Dark Continent, not all pygmies have forests as their habitat. For example, the Twa pygmies live in deserts and swamps.
6. The smallest pygmies in the world are Efe and Zaire. The height of women does not exceed 132 cm, and that of men - 143 cm.
7. Pygmies often become victims of rebels hiding in the forests, who rape women and force men to go hunting and bring back prey. When there is not enough meat, they eat pygmies.
8. The Aka tribe in Central Africa does not know the division into “women’s” or “men’s” work. Women hunt alone or in groups whenever they want. Married people hunt with the whole family. Men babysit children.
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Fotodom.ru/Rex Features
Perhaps few of us know who Negrillis are. But everyone has heard about pygmies. Strictly speaking, these are one and the same people. Translated from Greek, pygmies mean “people the size of a fist.” Although a height of 124 to 150 cm for adult men (for comparison, this is the height of schoolchildren) is hardly associated with such a size as a fist, they are still really small!
Fotodom.ru/Rex Features
Pygmies are not a single people, but different tribes: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batwa and others. The approximate number of pygmies ranges from 40 to 280 thousand people. The pygmies do not have their own language; they borrowed the language from their neighbors, in particular from the Bantu. Based on their language and hunting methods, they are divided into three groups: Efe, Sua, and Aka. Efe hunt with bows; sua, and aka - with networks.
Fotodom.ru/Rex Features
Pygmies hunt deer, antelope and monkeys. They collect fruits and honey. They mainly exchange their catch for vegetables, metal, fabrics or tobacco. The main hunting weapon is a bow with arrows with metal tips, which are often poisoned. Fish are caught by poisoning water bodies for a short time with plant poisons.
Fotodom.ru/Rex Features
The life expectancy of pygmies is from 16 to 24 years. 40-year-old men and women are real centenarians. They reach sexual maturity at the age of 12 and begin producing their own kind at the age of fifteen. If there are several wives, they live in separate huts. The neighbors of the Bantu pygmies willingly take pygmies as wives and do not even pay a ransom. The pygmies are unhappy with this, since the Bantu do not pass off their girls as pygmies.
Fotodom.ru/Rex Features
Some anthropologists classify dwarf peoples as pygmies, where the height of an adult man does not exceed 155 centimeters. In their opinion, pygmies live not only in Africa, but also in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bolivia and Brazil. Regarding the Dark Continent, not all pygmies have forests as their habitat. For example, the Twa pygmies live in deserts and swamps.
The smallest pygmies in the world are Efe and Zaire. The height of women does not exceed 132 cm, and that of men - 143 cm.
, Civilizations
Documentary-ethnographic project "Out of Time". “People the Size of a Fist” is the fourth film in the documentary project “Out of Time.” The film crew went to Lokomo in the eastern part of Cameroon in order to study in detail all aspects of the life, traditions and foundations of the Baka pygmy tribe.
List of episodes:
Episode one: "Baka and Bantu"
The film crew went to Lokomo in the eastern part of Cameroon in order to study in detail all aspects of the life, traditions and foundations of the Baka pygmy tribe. In the first...
Episode one: "Baka and Bantu"
The film crew went to Lokomo in the eastern part of Cameroon in order to study in detail all aspects of the life, traditions and foundations of the Baka pygmy tribe. In the first episode, Sergei Yastrzhembsky introduces the viewer to the way of life of the small Baka people, who do not engage in agriculture or raise livestock, but prefer to use the gifts of nature - fishing, collecting roots and hunting, which they do with great skill based on very deep knowledge of areas of the animal and plant world. It must be said that civilization has not spared this tribe either. With the more developed Bantu people living next door, they exchange meat and animal skins and honey obtained from hunting, receiving in return used clothes, empty bottles and spearheads. The film also shows the strict hierarchy established in the tribe, according to which roles and responsibilities are clearly distributed between women and men. Thus, women build huts, weave household utensils, gather and even fish. And men hunt. But everyone is united by art, embodied in music, singing and dancing. After all, the pygmies are famous for their unique polyphonic singing, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Episode two: "People the size of fists"
Having found the forest camp of the Baka pygmies in the jungle in the southeast of Cameroon, Sergei Yastrzhembsky and his team seemed transported into the primeval past. The film crew was able to capture the traditional way of life of this people, based on harmony with nature and giving them every right to call themselves “children of the forest.” They still go hunting with spears and nets, treat themselves with ointments made from a mixture of burnt bark, water and animal fat, tell fortunes on the skins of wild animals, chip their teeth and decorate women’s faces with razor cuts, tell children the same legends they heard in childhood from their grandfathers... The climax of the film is the hunt for an elephant. Sergei Yastrzhembsky agreed with one of the hunting companies located in Kamernu to film the “big hunt”. Together with the “children of the forest,” he chased the forest giant for two days, finding out the secrets of the pygmies kept for thousands of years.
There are not many places left on our planet where you can see communities of people living in living conditions that have remained virtually unchanged over many centuries. One of these places is Africa, where there are people who live by hunting, fishing and gathering. These tribal communities lead a largely secluded life, rarely coming into contact with the population around them.
Although recently the traditional way of life of many nationalities and tribes has undergone significant changes, and they are increasingly integrated into modern commodity-money relations, many continue to engage in subsistence farming. These communities are characterized by low-productivity agriculture. Their main economic task is self-sufficiency in basic food products in order to prevent prolonged famine. Weak economic interaction and a complete lack of trade often become the cause of interethnic contradictions and even armed conflicts.
Other tribes reached a higher level of economic development, gradually assimilating with larger state-forming peoples, and at the same time losing their distinctive features. The abandonment of natural forms of economic management, and increasing involvement in modern economic relations, contributes to increased cultural and technological development. Which is reflected in increased productivity and a general increase in material well-being.
For example, the introduction of the plow among some agricultural peoples and tribes in West Africa led to a significant increase in crop yields and an increase in available funds, which in turn led to the creation of favorable conditions for further modernization of agricultural work and the beginning of mechanization.
List of largest African tribes and nationalities
- Makonde
- Mbuti
- Mursi
- Kalenjin
- Oromo
- Pygmies
- Samburu
- Swazi
- Tuaregs
- Hamer
- Himba
- Bushmen
- Gourma
- Bambara
- Fulbe
- Wolof
- Malawi
- Dinka
- Bongo
More than 1 billion people live on the African continent, or 34 people per square kilometer. In fact, Africa's population is unevenly distributed. The waterless deserts, scorched by the heat, where there is no rain for years, are almost deserted. In the impenetrable forests of Equatorial Africa, only a few tribes of hunters cut paths. And in the lower reaches of large rivers, every piece of land is cultivated. Here the population density increases sharply.
In the Nile oasis, over three thousand people live on one square kilometer. The northern and eastern coasts of the mainland and the shores of the Gulf of Guinea are also densely populated. International trade and modern industry, banks and scientific centers are concentrated in large cities.
North Africa is inhabited by Arabs and Berbers, who belong to the southern branch of the Caucasian race. 12 centuries ago the Arabs came to the Mediterranean coast. They mixed with the local population and passed on their language, culture, and religion. Ancient buildings testify to the high art of Arab architects, the taste and skill of the people. Ancient Arab cities have still retained their unique appearance. Narrow streets sheltered from the sun, merchants' shops on every corner, artisan workshops.
The vast territory of Central Africa extends south of the Sahara. Numerous black peoples live here: Sudanese peoples, pygmies, Bantu peoples, Nilotes. All of them belong to the equatorial race. Distinctive features of the race: dark skin color, curly hair - developed over a long time under the influence of natural conditions. Among Negroids there are hundreds of different tribes and nationalities with unique facial features, head shape, and skin color. The Nilotic peoples, for example, are the tallest people on the mainland. The average height of a Nilotic man is 182 cm, and the height of a pygmy is 145 cm. In the forests of Equatorial Africa live the shortest people on earth, skilled trackers and hunters.
The appearance of African huts has remained unchanged for centuries. Most of the population of Central Africa lives in such villages. The source of food is agriculture. The main tool of work is a hoe. In savannah and open forests with rich grass cover, nomadic herders graze cattle. Residents of the coast, in addition to farming and animal husbandry, engage in fishing. And some peoples completely connected their lives with the water element.
In eastern Africa, on the territory of Ethiopia and Somalia, there are peoples of mixed race (the peoples of Ethiopia and Somalia, Nilotes, Bantu peoples). The ancient ancestors of the Somalis and Ethiopians probably descended from a mixture of Caucasians and Negroids. Thin facial features are like those of Caucasians, dark hair color and curly hair are like those of Negroids. Excavations in Ethiopia have shown that man lived there 4 million years ago.
The indigenous population of South Africa are Bushmen, Hottentots, and Boers. South Africa is the most developed part of the black continent due to the industry of South Africa.
The island of Madakascar is located off the eastern coast of the mainland. The Malgash, representatives of the Mongoloid race, live here. 2000 years ago, Malagasy sailed to Madagascar from Indonesia.
