There is a tendency in any oral culture for traditions to compress events and personalities over time. What the folk memory does preserve is an enduring appreciation of common roots. In this context, the royal genealogies of many Sotho-Tswana merafe claim common descent from an ancient ruler named Masilo. Beyond common kinship through putative descent from Masilo and such other ancient forbears as Thobega, Malope, Napo, and Tau, many merafe share an even deeper genesis myth about an ancestor named Matsieng. It is Matsieng who is said to have come into this world through Lowe's cave, which is adjacent to Rasesa.
Throughout Southern Africa, Sotho-Tswana traditions generally agree that the first ancestors emerged from the ground through sacred caves. While several reputed "caves of life" exist throughout the region, merafe that trace their descent from Matsieng are consistent in focusing on Lowe’s as their place of origin. The rock formation is named after a one-sided medimo who appeared in the form of a single-legged giant. Legend has it that Matsieng once lived without a care in the underground realm of Tintibane.
