The Mystic Stone

Today, the Mystic Stone marks the place where Ibrahim prayed for and received the Koran and as we saw earlier, before Ibrahim the place of the Mystic Stone was also known to the Dhen Zuo as a holy place. It was known to the Dhen Zuo as "Zybgeni" or base of the mountain. It served as a shady resting place for those traveling the ancient trans-Sahara trade route and holds great significance for many reasons.

After Larabanga and the rest of the Gonja lands had been settled a fierce warrior named Samuri Turi came to conquer the Gonja lands. The terrible Samuri Turi was sweeping across West Africa from what is now Guinea. His assaults were believed to be unstoppable and even the trees would conspire with him in battle. However, his horses were inexplicably unable to pass along the trade route at the Mystic Stone. It is said that the horses sank into the ground and that Samuri was forced to heed an old warning that had been given to him by his grandfather. He had been told that his conquests would be many and great, but that he would one day come upon a place he should not venture to conquer. And so Samuri Turi decided to send a message of peace to the elders of Larabanga. In this way Samuri Turi was telling the elders that he would not try to conquer Larabanga. The elders gathered to discuss the matter just as they do in times of crisis or dispute today. They decided that the terrible warrior's peace should be accepted and his horses led around the Mystic Stone.

The village of Larabanga sacrificied cattle and prepared food as a welcome for the fierce warrior, but the elders also prepared a hat with magic powers that was worn by one of the elders to the meal. If Samuri Turi demanded the hat for himself and put it on his head the magical powers of the hat would weaken the warrior and he would surely fail to conquer the Gonja lands. Samuri Turi indeed did demand the hat and put it on his head. Accordingly, he was killed shortly afterwards in battle near Busunu. In this way, Larabanga continued to fulfill its function as spiritual protector to the Gonjas and the Mystic Stone also demonstrated itself to be a charmed place which war cannot touch.

More recently, the Mystic Stone showed its charmed ways again during the building of the Tamale-Wa road in the 1950's. The planned route of the road was to pass right through the Mystic Stone. Yet, everytime the path was cleared by bulldozers to commence the building of the road, the following morning the rock would be found back in its spot blocking the roadway. This happened again and again until the road was eventually built around the Stone. Today, the Mystic Stone remains in the same spot with its elevated status in reminder of the mystical protection enjoyed by the village. To this day, there are no horses in Larabanga and it is said that no one with warlike intentions can pass through the village.