Editing Monotheism (section)

====Eastern Africa====
[[File:Oromo Irrecha.jpg|thumb|The [[Irreechaa]] festival is a thanksgiving to [[Waaq]]]]
According to [[Robin Dunbar]], an evolutionary psychologist, the emergence of [[doctrine|doctrinal religions]] is closely linked to environmental and social factors. He argues that large, densely populated societies—often arising in agriculturally productive regions—required more [[Organized religion|formalized religious]] structures to maintain [[social cohesion]]. In particular, the shift from small, kin-based communities to larger settlements increased the need for moralizing gods and centralized rituals. Additionally, the climatic stability of the [[Subtropics|Northern Subtropical Zone]] during the [[Neolithic]] facilitated surplus food production, enabling religious specialists to emerge and institutionalize belief systems.<ref name="Dunbar2023">{{Cite journal |last=Dunbar |first=R.I.M. |date=2023 |title=Why did doctrinal religions first appear in the Northern Subtropical Zone? |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2023.13 |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |volume=5 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2023.13 |issn=2513-843X|pmc=10427489 }}</ref>

Dunbar identifies two early monotheistic traditions in sub-Saharan Africa. The [[Cushitic]]-speaking populations of the central Nile Valley (present-day [[Sudan]]) circa [[5th millennium BC|5th millennium BCE]] worshipped [[Waaq]], a singular [[sky deity]] whose veneration persists among some Cushitic groups. Later, [[Nilotic]]-speaking societies migrating southward developed or [[Religious conversion|adopted]] similar beliefs, with singular deities such as [[Engai]] of the [[Maasai people|Maasai]], though often combined with ancestral reverence and spirit veneration.<ref name="Dunbar2023" /> Many Southern Nilotic peoples such as the [[Samburu people|Samburu]] and [[Datooga_people|Datooga]] have substantial Cushitic ancestry from the [[Savanna Pastoral Neolithic]] communities believed to be of Cushitic origin.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prendergast |first=Mary E. |last2=Lipson |first2=Mark |last3=Sawchuk |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Olalde |first4=Iñigo |last5=Ogola |first5=Christine A. |last6=Rohland |first6=Nadin |last7=Sirak |first7=Kendra A. |last8=Adamski |first8=Nicole |last9=Bernardos |first9=Rebecca |last10=Broomandkhoshbacht |first10=Nasreen |last11=Callan |first11=Kimberly |last12=Culleton |first12=Brendan J. |last13=Eccles |first13=Laurie |last14=Harper |first14=Thomas K. |last15=Lawson |first15=Ann Marie |date=2019-07-05 |title=Ancient DNA reveals a multistep spread of the first herders into sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaw6275 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=365 |issue=6448 |doi=10.1126/science.aaw6275 |issn=0036-8075 |pmc=6827346 |pmid=31147405}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wang |first=Ke |last2=Goldstein |first2=Steven |last3=Bleasdale |first3=Madeleine |last4=Clist |first4=Bernard |last5=Bostoen |first5=Koen |last6=Bakwa-Lufu |first6=Paul |last7=Buck |first7=Laura T. |last8=Crowther |first8=Alison |last9=Dème |first9=Alioune |last10=McIntosh |first10=Roderick J. |last11=Mercader |first11=Julio |last12=Ogola |first12=Christine |last13=Power |first13=Robert C. |last14=Sawchuk |first14=Elizabeth |last15=Robertshaw |first15=Peter |date=2020-06-12 |title=Ancient genomes reveal complex patterns of population movement, interaction, and replacement in sub-Saharan Africa |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz0183 |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=6 |issue=24 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aaz0183 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=7292641 |pmid=32582847}}</ref>

[[Waaq]] is the name of a singular [[God]] in the traditional religion of many [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] people in the [[Horn of Africa]], denoting an early monotheistic religion. However, this religion was mostly replaced with the [[Abrahamic religions]], such as [[Islam]] in the case of the [[Somalis|Somali]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mire |first=Sada |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429769252 |title=Divine Fertility |date=2020-02-05 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-76925-2}}</ref> The term ''barwaaqo'' in the Somali language means [[prosperity]] still includes the name of Waaq. The Somali rendition of the Ethiopian [[Prosperity Party|prosperity party]] is ''Xisbiga Barwaaqo''. The Somali city of [[Abudwak]] means '[[worship]] Waaq' in Somali. Some [[Oromo people|Oromo]] still follow the traditional monotheistic religion called [[Waaqeffanna]] in the [[Oromo language|Oromo]] language.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kenea |first=Gemechu |last2=Biru |first2=Dereje |date=2019 |title=Some of the Ritual Practices in Oromo People: Guji Oromo in Focus |url=http://ejol.aau.edu.et/index.php/JIKDS/article/view/3766 |journal=Journal of Indigenous Knowledge and Development Studies |language=en |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=96–115 |issn=2708-2830 |archive-date=16 August 2024 |access-date=18 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816162504/http://ejol.aau.edu.et/index.php/JIKDS/article/view/3766 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Irreechaa]] is an annual thanksgiving festival celebrated by the Oromo people, primarily in [[Ethiopia]], marking the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the [[harvest]]. It is a spiritual occasion dedicated to Waaq, the supreme God in traditional Oromo belief, symbolizing gratitude for nature's abundance. The festival is observed in various regions, with its largest celebration taking place in [[Addis Ababa]], where tens of thousands of people gather near bodies of water to offer prayers, songs, and traditional rituals. Irreechaa not only reflects deep-rooted cultural practices but also promotes unity and peace among the Oromo community and beyond.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Critical reflections on indigenous religions |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-57509-4 |editor-last=Cox |editor-first=James L. |series=Vitality of indigenous religions |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Debele |first=Serawit Bekele |date=2018-07-03 |title=Reading Prayers as Political Texts: Reflections on Irreecha Ritual in Ethiopia |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2018.1510393 |journal=Politics, Religion &amp; Ideology |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=354–370 |doi=10.1080/21567689.2018.1510393 |issn=2156-7689|hdl=21.11116/0000-0005-E115-5 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fekede |first=Alemayehu |last2=Gemechu |first2=Dejene |last3=Godesso |first3=Ameyu |last4=Tafese |first4=Firaol |last5=Wako |first5=Wario |last6=Musa |first6=Boru |date=2024-07-08 |title=Oromoo concept of peace: an exploration of its values and guiding mechanisms |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/gadaa/article/view/273397 |journal=Gadaa Journal |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=136–152 |issn=2616-3985}}</ref>