When society invest in educating a kin, the kin was not privileged to look down on the society but to revamp and uplift the societal practices for techno-socio-economic liberation. According to Akan Cosmology, Adanse in present day Ghana, is the place Odomankoma/Borebore (God) started creation of the world.

This story sounded weird and I debunked its authenticity which is very typical of most educated Africans; we debunk traditional cosmologies because of our ignorance! Moreover, Western education tags anything it doesn’t truly understand as superstitious. 

Adanse people like any Akan group in Ghana trace their root to ancient Babylonia (Sumer). According to history, the name Adanse was derived from ‘edan si fo’ (house builders); they were the first settlers to build wattle and daub buildings. Another account says the name Adanse was derived from ‘adansefo)’ (witnesses); they are principal witnesses to God’s creation.

The second account is more potent because Akan people all along were builders even at Bono Manso (first settlement of most Akan people). Hence, Adanse people weren’t just the first house builders but were witnesses. Why would Akan cosmology say that the present geographic location of Adanse is the starting point of creation of the world? This cosmogony isn’t biased because Akan people know that they are immigrants at their present home, Ghana. Why would they say such a thing?

Let us consider biblical account which happens to be a guide to most anthropologists. Genesis 2:11-12, “The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.” KJV. Africa/Eden is the birthplace of humanity according to anthropologists.

Hence, Africa is the place that was described in the Genesis story.  After creation, provinces were created and each province was described based on peculiar items there. Names of provinces in chronological order; Havilah, Ethiopia/Cush, Assyria/Syria. To decode Havilah, we need to answer the following questions: what is onyx stone?; Where can fine gold deposit associated with onyx stone be located in Africa?  What is the possible modern name for Pison?

Onyx stone is primarily composed of silica and comes in different colours depending on the inclusions (impurities). It has white colour in its powdered form (streak) and hardness of 6.5-7 on the mohs hardness scale. In antiquity, black onyx stone was the most revered type. ONYX STONE is QUARTZ (obohemaa) and therefore BLACK ONYX is simply SMOKY QUARTZ. 

According to International Union of Geological Sciences,  the earth is about 4.6 billion years old. Griffis et al. in their report on Gold Deposit of Ghana stated, “Geology of  West Africa is very complex with Paleoproterozoic (2.50-2.05 billion years old) origin.

The most important Paleoproterozoic units are extensive sediments and volcanics, which are generally referred to as the Birimian Supergroup. The Birimian rocks are very widely distributed throughout a large part of West Africa; Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger…Volta Basin in Ghana is underlain by Paleoproterozoic units with equivalent rocks in North West Africa, which suggest that much of the Western Sahara has the same but buried Paleoproterozoic cratonic units as West Africa.” 

Ghana by land settlement is the centre of the world. Ghana is the second largest gold producer in Africa to South Africa not because of limited deposit but because of exploitation technology. Ghana has the finest gold deposit in Africa. Bosman and Barbot (European missionaries who acted as anthropologists) stated, “…in the seventeen century, gold from Adanse, was referred to as Accany and was so pure and fine that the best gold was called “Accani sika” (Accany gold) in the world.”

The fascinating occurrence is that the gold at Adanse is associated with smoky quartz (onyx stone). Griffis et al. stated, “ the most important gold minerlisation type in West Africa is the mesothermal auriferous arsenopyrite and quartz vein mineralisation; This is by far the most important type of gold occurrence in West Africa and is commonly referred to as the Ashanti-type in recognition of the Obuasi area being the type locality and by far the largest gold deposit…” Where is Obuasi located In Ghana? Isn’t it Adanse? Obuasi is just 15 km from Akrokyere (the exact place Akan cosmology says creation started). Isn’t this the biblical Havilah?

What is modern Pison?  Enock Ofori Jnr, “ Pison is the Nile River. The Nile River is the longest river system in the world. An early civilization was born along the banks of this river in Egypt. It is the only river in the world that rises near the equator and flows into the middle latitudes.”  The Nile is a great river but not the nearest  river to the area rich in fine gold. The Volta River is 1500 km long with Black and Red Volta as tributaries. Volta passes through Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Ghana; Volta is the nearest great river that encompass the area with fine gold which is associated with smoky quartz (onyx stone). Can bdellium be found in West Africa? Go figure out!

West Africa and North West Africa is geologically the biblical Havilah and Pison is Volta River. Contemporary, the ancient biblical provinces would be: West and West North Africa (Havilah); Central, East and South Africa (Ethiopia); and  Middle East (Assyria).

The Akan cosmology is original and wasn’t adopted from the Europeans. If the Akan cosmology about creation is very accurate and not mere myth, who enlightened them? Akan people migrated from their original home and headed towards the Centre of the World (modern Ghana) without the help of Google Map.

Do you think such people were naïve? This is the time educated Blacks must give critical analyses to their original and ancient traditions. We should stop debunking things we don’t understand about Africa because the complex African knowledge gave birth to world civilization.

African Cosmologies such as the Dogon Cosmology are not bedecked with scientific jargons, they sound so weird and would be rejected by the uninitiated. However, with unbiased analyses, one will get easier understandings of the mysteries behind the hyper dimensions.

WRITER : Kwasi Boadu Ntiamoah (


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