Illustrations
What would the language families do in their daily lives? What are some of the old images they left in history? Find out in the illustration section!
09
Yoruba Creation Mythology
Oduduwa, Obatala’s sibling, stole the sacred tools and descended first, claiming the glory of creating the earth. This rivalry caused great dispute between them. At last, Olodumare intervened: they decreed that Obatala would be responsible for shaping mankind, while Oduduwa would become the founder of earthly kingdoms and human ancestry.
08
Yoruba Creation Mythology
When Obatala reached the watery surface, they spread out the cloth upon it. They poured the sacred earth from the snail shell onto the cloth. Then they released the hen, which began to scratch and scatter the earth with its claws. Slowly, the soil spread wider and wider until the first dry land appeared. This first land became Ife, later revered as the sacred city of humanity.
07
Yoruba Creation Mythology
Obatala lowered the golden chain from heaven, shining like a beam of light, and began to climb down. They descended toward the endless waters below. On the way, they heard Orunmila’s voice guiding them on the correct way to perform creation.
06
Yoruba Creation Mythology
One day, Olodumare decided that land must be formed so that life could exist. They called upon the deity of wisdom, Orunmila, for guidance on how to begin. They then appointed Obatala to carry out the task. Olodumare gave Obatala some sacred tools: a golden chain to descend from the heavens, a snail shell filled with sacred earth, a hen, some clothes to serve as the foundation of the earth, and a fireball to dry and harden the land.
05
Yoruba Creation Mythology
In the very beginning, there was nothing but endless sky and endless water. Above the sky lived the supreme deity Olodumare, the source of all existence, who rarely intervened directly. Beneath, only darkness and the primeval waters stretched without end.
04
Dahomey warrior
This is an old image of Atlantic-Congo as a Dahomey warrior back in 1892 in the Second Franco-Dahomean War, very brave, right?
03
Scythian Warrior
This is an old image of Indo-European as a Scythian warrior back in 650 BCE…wait, did she have red hair back then? How was that even possible?
02
The Disappearing Languages
We commemorate these eighteen lost language families with the flowers that best represent their homeland.
01
The Thriving Languages
The eleven most spoken language families in the world gathered together for a lively party!
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Indo-European: 3,400,000,000 current speakers
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Sino-Tibetan: 1,400,000,000 current speakers
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Afro-Asiatic: 630,000,000 current speakers
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Atlantic-Congo: 500,000,000 current speakers
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Austronesian: 386,000,000 current speakers
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Dravidian: 250,000,000 current speakers
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Turkic: 200,000,000 current speakers
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Japonic: 129,000,000 current speakers
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Austroasiatic: 117,000,000 current speakers
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Tai-Kadai: 93,000,000 current speakers
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Uralic: 20,700,000 current speakers
