The Igbo Calendar: Exploring the Endogenous Astronomy of South-Eastern Nigeria

Johnson Ozoemenam Urama (University of Nigeria, Nsukka)

About a thousand years ago every African was an astronomer. They observed the Sun and Moon for timekeeping, navigating at night, noting menses and fertility cycles and creating an accurate calendar. Among the Igbo of south-eastern Nigeria, the calendar is important for agricultural and festive seasons, among many other things. Here, the general life of the community still largely hinges on the lunar calendar and the people look up to the king-priests who determined agricultural seasons based on the lunar calendar. Here, we present some aspects of the endogenous astronomy of the south-eastern Nigeria through the examination of the Igbo calendar.