THE CLAY AND MINING CRAFTS OF THE SAO PEOPLE ON THE BORDER OF LAKE CHAD BASIN
The Sao people are distinguished from other populations by their practice of artisanal and mineral manufacturing in the regions where their population lived and populated. There are several kinds of objects made from clay for cooking food, as well as cups used for drinking water, decorated and embellished with different colors including white and black for the ornament of baskets. The Sao also used clay to make jars used to bury their dead. Should we remember that the dead of the Sao are buried in jars made especially for the occasion. This funeral jar is not smooth and without ornament. They place the dead in a tied position, facing east where the sun rises, according to their belief in the strength of the sun. This way of believing and the procedure of burial constitute a common denominator between the Pharaohs of Egypt and the peoples of Maroui, specifically from the point of view of the worship of the sun that ancient African peoples practiced from the Nile to Senegal. The Sao also made statuettes and produced human and animal representations, and games for children. These statuettes and representations symbolize the spiritual sides of the Sao people, and this is the reason why these small human statuettes are placed next to the sick to cure the disease, believing that they chase away the evil spirits which harm and torture the sick, unable to defend themselves. Sometimes the statuettes are placed in the tomb with the dead and the objects used to drink water and eat food that the deceased used during his lifetime. This reflects the influence of the Nilo-and Pharaonic civilization. Objects made from clay are used in various artisanal transformations of things never imagined, such as the coffin of the dead, pots, baskets, cups, bowls and various children's play objects; coins (cowries), ornaments, boilers; objects of worship, cups of offerings, decorated beds, whistles and iron bracelets. All these different objects made from iron, bronze and mercury are represented in the sculptures and fabrications of human and animal statuettes, ornamental objects and adornments which are manifested in the representations of the stamps of the earrings and the bracelet in which appear, more often, traces of embellishment decorated with several pretty and fascinating geometric figures which characterize and stand out their beauty and embellished figures.
Keywords: Clay-Based Crafts, Minerals, The Sao and The Chad Basin.