Ancient Africa
Further information:
Circumcision in Africa
North Africa
At
Oued Djerat, in
Algeria, engraved rock art with masked bowmen, which feature male circumcision and may be a scene involving ritual, have been dated to earlier than 6000 BP amid the
Bubaline Period;
[25] more specifically, while possibly dating much earlier than 10,000 BP, rock art walls from the Bubaline Period have been dated between 9200 BP and 5500 BP.
[26] The cultural practice of circumcision may have spread from the Central
Sahara, toward the south in
Sub-Saharan Africa and toward the east in the region of the
Nile.
[25]
West Africa
The
Nomoli figurines, which were created by the
Mende people in
Sierra Leone and depict male circumcised genitalia,
[27] have been dated between the 7th century CE and the 8th century CE.
[28]
Central and East Africa
Prior to 300 CE, male circumcision, which is a
cultural practice that is part of male initiations, is estimated to have existed in
Africa for more than 9000 years.
[29] By 300 CE, male initiation and male circumcision had ceased among
matrilineal Bantu-speaking peoples in
East Africa and
Central Africa.
[29]
Agatharchides of
Cnidus (2nd century BCE) indicated that "
troglodyte" ethnic groups practiced circumcision; these groups may have resided along the African coast of the
Red Sea in
southern Egypt or near the
Gulf of Zula in present-day
Eritrea; while most of these groups practiced a form of circumcision that involved partial excision, the ethnic group, identified by Agatharchides as the "Colobi" ("the mutilated"), were indicated to have practiced a form of circumcision that involved total excision.
[30]
Herodotus (5th century BCE) indicated that ancient
Ethiopians practiced circumcision.
[30]
Southern Africa
In the 19th century CE,
Shaka, a
Zulu king, prohibited male circumcision due to concerns that young circumcised men might be less interested in joining as warriors in the military force he was amassing and uniting in the region of
southern Africa and might be more interested in seeking opportunities for having sex.
[23]