Man, Past and Present

Name: Man, Past and Present
Author: Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry)

Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry)

Anthropology; Ethnology

{ Mpondo: Ukulukulu        | Eshi-Kongo: Nzambi   }
          { Zulu: Unkulunkulu        | Kabinda: Nzambi Pongo}
          { Inhambane: Mulungulu     | Lunda: Zambi         }
          { Sofala: Murungu          | Ba-Teke: Nza[~m]     }
          { Be-Chuana: Mulungulu     | Ba-Rotse: Nyampe     }
          { Lake Moero: Mulungu      | Bihe: Nzambi         }
          { Lake Tanganyika: Mulungu | Loango: Zambi, Nyambi}
  Eastern { Makua: Moloko            | Bunda: Onzambi       }Western
  Seaboard{ Quillimane: Mlugu        | Ba-Ngala: Nsambi     }Seaboard
  and     { Lake Bangweolo: Mungu    | Ba-Kele: Nshambi     }and
  Parts   { Tete, Zambesi: Muungu    | Rungu: Anyambi       }Parts
  of      { Nyasaland: Murungu       | Ashira: Aniembie     }of
  Interior{ Swahili: Muungu          | Mpongwe: Njambi      }Interior
          { Giryama: Mulungu         | Benga: Anyambi       }
          { Pokomo: Mungo            | Dwala: Nyambi        }
          { Nyika: Mulungu           | Yanzi: Nyambi        }
          { Kamba: Mulungu           | Herero: Ndyambi      }
          { Yanzi: Molongo           |
          { Herero: Mukuru           |

Of _Munkulunkulu_ the primitive idea is clear enough from its best
preserved form, the Zulu _Unkulunkulu_, which is a repetitive of the
root _inkulu_, great, old, hence a deification of the great departed, a
direct outcome of the ancestry-worship so universal amongst Negro and
Bantu peoples[287]. Thus Unkulunkulu becomes the direct progenitor of
the Zulu-Xosas: _Unkulunkulu ukobu wetu_. But the fundamental meaning of
_Nzambi_ is unknown. The root does not occur in Kishi-Kongo, and Bentley
rightly rejects Kolbe's far-fetched explanation from the Herero, adding
that "the knowledge of God is most vague, scarcely more than nominal.
There is no worship paid to God[288]."

More probable seems W. H. Tooke's suggestion that Nzambi is "a Nature
spirit like Zeus or Indra," and that, while the eastern Bantus are
ancestor-worshippers, "the western adherents of Nzambi are more or less
Nature-worshippers. In this respect they appear to approach the Negroes
of the Gold, Slave, and Oil Coasts[289]." No doubt the cult of the dead
prevails also in this region, but here it is combined with naturalistic
forms of belief, as on the Gold Coast, where _Bobowissi_, chief god of
all the southern tribes, is the "Blower of Clouds," the "Rain-maker,"
and on the Slave Coast, where the Dahoman _Mawu_ and the Yoruba _Olorun_
are the Sky or Rain, and the "Owner of the Sky" (the deified Firmament),
respectively[290].

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Man, Past and PresentKeane, A. H. (Augustus Henry)

History

Man, Past and Present

Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry)

Anthropology; Ethnology

{ Mpondo: Ukulukulu        | Eshi-Kongo: Nzambi   }
          { Zulu: Unkulunkulu        | Kabinda: Nzambi Pongo}
          { Inhambane: Mulungulu     | Lunda: Zambi         }
          { Sofala: Murungu          | Ba-Teke: Nza[~m]     }
          { Be-Chuana: Mulungulu     | Ba-Rotse: Nyampe     }
          { Lake Moero: Mulungu      | Bihe: Nzambi         }
          { Lake Tanganyika: Mulungu | Loango: Zambi, Nyambi}
  Eastern { Makua: Moloko            | Bunda: Onzambi       }Western
  Seaboard{ Quillimane: Mlugu        | Ba-Ngala: Nsambi     }Seaboard
  and     { Lake Bangweolo: Mungu    | Ba-Kele: Nshambi     }and
  Parts   { Tete, Zambesi: Muungu    | Rungu: Anyambi       }Parts
  of      { Nyasaland: Murungu       | Ashira: Aniembie     }of
  Interior{ Swahili: Muungu          | Mpongwe: Njambi      }Interior
          { Giryama: Mulungu         | Benga: Anyambi       }
          { Pokomo: Mungo            | Dwala: Nyambi        }
          { Nyika: Mulungu           | Yanzi: Nyambi        }
          { Kamba: Mulungu           | Herero: Ndyambi      }
          { Yanzi: Molongo           |
          { Herero: Mukuru           |

Of _Munkulunkulu_ the primitive idea is clear enough from its best
preserved form, the Zulu _Unkulunkulu_, which is a repetitive of the
root _inkulu_, great, old, hence a deification of the great departed, a
direct outcome of the ancestry-worship so universal amongst Negro and
Bantu peoples[287]. Thus Unkulunkulu becomes the direct progenitor of
the Zulu-Xosas: _Unkulunkulu ukobu wetu_. But the fundamental meaning of
_Nzambi_ is unknown. The root does not occur in Kishi-Kongo, and Bentley
rightly rejects Kolbe's far-fetched explanation from the Herero, adding
that "the knowledge of God is most vague, scarcely more than nominal.
There is no worship paid to God[288]."

More probable seems W. H. Tooke's suggestion that Nzambi is "a Nature
spirit like Zeus or Indra," and that, while the eastern Bantus are
ancestor-worshippers, "the western adherents of Nzambi are more or less
Nature-worshippers. In this respect they appear to approach the Negroes
of the Gold, Slave, and Oil Coasts[289]." No doubt the cult of the dead
prevails also in this region, but here it is combined with naturalistic
forms of belief, as on the Gold Coast, where _Bobowissi_, chief god of
all the southern tribes, is the "Blower of Clouds," the "Rain-maker,"
and on the Slave Coast, where the Dahoman _Mawu_ and the Yoruba _Olorun_
are the Sky or Rain, and the "Owner of the Sky" (the deified Firmament),
respectively[290].

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Man, Past and Present

Man, Past and Present

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