Nyame

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Nyame
King of Heaven,
Progenitor of Litungas

Symbol for Nyame
Consorts Asase Ya
Nasilele
Mwambwa
Mbuymamwambwa
[1]

Issue

Tano
Bia
Anansi
Yeta I
Mwanasolundwi Muyunda Mumbo wa Mulonga
Inyambo
Ingulamwa
Apo[2]
Bosomtwe[3]
Mother Ngula

Nyame (or Nyambe, Nyankopon) is the Sky deity of the Akan people of Akanland (South Ghana), the leader of the Abosom, the Akan spirits and minor gods.[4]

His name means "he who knows and sees everything" and "omniscient, omnipotent sky god" in the Akan language; and "he who does not speak" in the Luyana language.[5]

Function

He is called "omniscient, omnipotent sky god of the Akan people"; and he is called "king of the Lozi people" and it is said that he was a maker of animals, forests and birds.[6]

Nyame is portrayed as a benevolent god, if sometime aloof and distant. The sun is his right eye, which he open during the day, while the moon is his left eye.

One of Nyame's creations was Kamunu, the first human being. Nyame gave Kamunu the task of naming all the other creations.[7][8]

Family

Mother of Nyame was named Ngula. She was a goddess created by her own son.

His divine wife is Asase Ya, goddess of earth and fate and they have two children: Tano, river god of war and Bia, god of wild animals (he is also called Bea).[9] Also the son or servant and herald of Nyame is Anansi, the Spider Trickster god, bringer of knowledge and stories.[10]

His mortal queens were Nasilele, Mwambwa and Mbuymamwambwa and his mortal sons were chiefs Yeta I, Mwanasolundwi Muyunda Mumbo wa Mulonga, Inyambo and Ingulamwa.[11]

After Nyame returned to heaven, Nasilele died a few weeks later.

Nyame and Anansi

Nyame gave Anansi his stories in exchange for gifts, and then charged the spider-god to walk the world and find new stories.

See also

References

  1. ↑ She was also a stepdaughter of Nyame.
  2. ↑ God of waters.
  3. ↑ Also god of waters.
  4. ↑ Who's who in non-classical mythology. Routledge. 2001. p. 144. ISBN 9780415260404. Retrieved 2010-05-24.  |coauthors= requires |author= (help)
  5. ↑ The Lozi peoples of north-western Rhodesia by Victor Witter Turner
  6. ↑ Family tree of Litungas
  7. ↑ Origin of death
  8. ↑ Harold Scheub, Nyambe And The Origin of Death. A Dictionary of African Mythology, Oxford University Press, 2000
  9. ↑ African Mythology, A to Z by Patricia Ann Lynch, Jeremy Roberts
  10. ↑ See Ashanti linguist staff finial.
  11. ↑ Family tree of Litungas
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