Editing Libation (section)

===Africa===
Libation was part of [[ancient Egyptian]] society where it was a drink offering to honor and please the various divinities, sacred ancestors, humans present and humans who are alive but not physically present, as well as the environment.<ref name="auto3"/> It is suggested that libation originated somewhere in the upper Nile Valley and spread out to other regions of Africa and the world.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/> According to [[Ayi Kwei Armah]], "[t]his legend explains the rise of a propitiatory custom found everywhere on the African continent: libation, the pouring of alcohol or other drinks as offerings to ancestors and divinities."<ref name="auto2"/>

[[File:Cichefstradi.jpg|thumb|Pouring of a libation at a ceremony in [[Bouaké]], [[Ivory Coast]]]]
In [[African cultures]] and [[African traditional religions]] the ritual of pouring libation is an essential ceremonial tradition and a way of giving homage to the ancestors. Ancestors are not only respected in such cultures, but also invited to participate in all public functions (as are also the gods and God). A prayer is offered in the form of libations, calling the ancestors to attend. The ritual is generally performed by an elder. Although water may be used, the drink is typically some traditional wine (e.g. [[palm wine]]), and the libation ritual is accompanied by an invitation (and invocation) to the ancestors, gods and God. In the Volta region of Ghana, water with a mixture of corn flour is also used to pour libation.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Libation is also commonly recognized as the break within the famous performance of [[Agbekor]], a ritual dance performed in West African cultures. It is also poured during traditional marriage ceremony, when a child is born and funeral ceremony. Traditional Festivals like [[Asafotu]] and [[Homowo]] of the [[Ga-Adangbe people|Ga-Adangbe]] people of Ghana and Togo. Also during installment of kings, queens, and chiefs, libation is poured.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}}

As recently as the 1920s, it was a custom in [[Lower Nubia]] for women to go to the graves of relatives every Friday and pour a libation of water into a red bowl at the head of the grave.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blackman |first=Aylward M. |date=1916 |title=Libations to the Dead in Modern Nubia and Ancient Egypt |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3853589 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=31–34 |doi=10.2307/3853589 |jstor=3853589 |issn=0307-5133|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For widows, it was also once a custom for them to pour a libation of milk on their husband's grave the second day after his death.<ref name=":1" />

Similarly, it has been [[Copts|Coptic]] tradition for women to visit graves and make water libations, both in intervals during the first 40 days after a death, and during a few annual occasions, such as [[Nayrouz]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Naguib |first=Saphinaz-Amal |date=2008-04-18 |title=Survivals of Pharaonic Religious Practices in Contemporary Coptic Christianity. |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27v9z5m8 |journal=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1}}</ref>