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This is a piece of art that West Africans made they made more art of people not gods.

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This is where West Africans lived.

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These people were called Grioits and they told story's to other people in there land and the cool thing was the they didn't even need and book or peace of paper they just knew the story and also kids in school in West African learned how to be Grioits.

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Although Africa is a huge continent with many different peoples and traditional religions, some beliefs and practices are common through many of the religions. These include:

Supreme God - Many African religions believed in a supreme god that created the world. Some examples include the gods Oludmare of Nigeria and Katonda of Uganda. In some religions this god may be prayed to for help, but in others the supreme god does not interact with humans.

Nature Spirits - Beneath the supreme god are a number of spirits who mostly live in nature including animals, water, and the earth.

Ancestral Spirits - The spirits of dead ancestors often played an important part in traditional African religion. By honoring these spirits, believers hoped that the spirits would help them or would talk to the supreme god on their behalf.

Sacrifice - Most Ancient African religions offered some sort of sacrifice to their gods or the spirits. This sacrifice varied from small items, like a portion of food or drink, to much larger items like cattle or even human sacrifice.

Rites of Passage - Traditional religions played an important role in the rites of passage. These included rituals surrounding marriage, entering adulthood, birth, and death.

Magic

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common believes that people have in west africa

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The religion of Islam began in the Middle East during the early 600s CE. Not long after the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, the Arabs began to expand their empire. They first invaded northern Africa in 647 CE. They conquered much of the land, but turned back after defeating Libya in return for tribute (payment).

The Arabs once again invaded in 665 CE. This time they conquered virtually all of north Africa from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean and Morocco. They continued to fight against the armies of the Byzantine Empire and the local peoples (the Berbers) for several years. By the year 709 CE, all of northern Africa was firmly under Arab control.

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The most famous examples of monumental art and architecture in Ancient Africa come from Egypt. The Ancient Egyptians created huge structures such as the pyramids, the Sphinx, temples, and statues (like the giant pharaohs at Abu Simbel). Other African civilizations built monumental structures as well including the giant obelisks of Aksum in Ethiopia, mosques like the Great Mosque of Djene in Mali, and the rock-cut churches in Ethiopia.

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interesting Facts about Traditional Religions of Ancient Africa.

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interesting Facts about Traditional Religions of Ancient Africa.

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The people of the Mali Empire believed in a magical force called "nyama."

The religious beliefs of Africans impacted all aspects of their everyday lives including their food, work, and family life.

They believed in both good and bad spirits. Good spirits would protect them, while bad spirits could make them ill or make them misbehave.

In the dry areas of Africa, certain priests would specialize as "rain-makers." They would drive away bad spirits that may have caused a drought and ask for help from good spirits on how they could make it rain.

Although many Africans today identify with Christianity or Islam as their religion, many of them still participate in traditional African rituals.

Some traditional beliefs and rituals from Africa spread to the Americas in places like Brazil and Cuba.

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Interesting Facts about Traditional Religions of Ancient Africa

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Depending on where in Africa people lived, they ate different foods. Each region had a major staple crop that formed the majority of their food. They would then supplement this crop with fish, meat, and vegetables that they were able to grow or hunt where they lived. Staple foods that were grown by farmers included wheat, yams, maize, and rice.

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Islam also spread to the empires of Central Africa mostly through trade relations across the Sahara Desert. Islam played an important role in both the Empire of Mali and the Songhai Empire. Perhaps the most famous Muslim of Central Africa was the Mali Emperor Mansa Musa. After Mansa Musa was converted to Islam, he made a legendary pilgrimage to Mecca (in Saudi Arabia). Records indicate that as many as 60,000 people traveled with him on his journey.

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Because it is so hot in Africa, the people of Ancient Africa didn't wear a lot of clothes. Most of the time, they went around naked. However, for special ceremonies and meetings, they would sometimes wear loincloths or tunics. As Islam became a more popular religion in Africa, people began to wear more clothing. Typical materials included animal skins, fur, cotton, and some regions even made clothing from the bark of trees.