Origin Story of African Drum Djembe

The origin story of african drum djembe takes place in West Africa where the instrument was invented, 800 years ago, in a region, close to the northeast border, the blacksmiths or “the numu people” created a wooden mortar and it was the very first djembe. The name was originated from a common saying around the region, which currently known as Mali and Guinea, “Anke dje, anke be” or “Everyone gathers together in peace”. Here gather refers to “Dje” and “be” is everyone. During the invention of the djembe, people were known as “Mandé” and it was Malian Empire. It was established as the “federation of Mandinka tribes called the Manden Kurufa”. Later the empire ruled millions of people, from almost every ethnic group around West Africa. Djembe came to its shape when the blacksmiths were making drums custom-fitted to the drummer. Current djembes are goblet-shaped drums”, carved using a single African hardwood piece and as the drum head, it was topped with an animal skin.