With the data become available in the last hundred years, we are in a better position today to search also in this territory for traces of the universal wisdom. The quest is by no means a simple one for several reasons, some stemming more from our own preconceived ideas than from actual facts. To begin with, the present-day scene is quite complex. Urbanization and the spreading of Christianity and Islam have weakened the observance of the ancestral ways, and the sudden shift from the traditional to the technological era has cut off many from long-established roots. Once removed from integrated and close-knit tribal society, the individual no longer has the benefit of being taught by the elders the proven mores and, far more important, the reason for abiding by them.
New gods replace the old ones, or are just added to the deities already worshipped.
Though in the villages life continues more or less unchanged, even here, as the older generations are gradually dying, there are ever fewer who understand the esoteric background of their beliefs than in former times. Even so, the Parthenon in all its splendor constituted the smallest part of Athens, while the average citizen lived in a flimsy dwelling of sun-dried clay and timber, the refuse at the city's edge an open invitation to the plague. Moreover, if we are unfamiliar with African culture, it is not so much because it never existed. Early visitors were overawed by such a display of wealth and gold as they had never seen in contemporary Europe. The city became a center of learning and a haven for scholars.