Etim 'Ne

Etim 'Ne, 'the Old Person', is the first man of Ekoi tradition and a culture hero. He and his wife Ejaw descend from the sky to a waterless earth; Etim 'Ne asks Obassi Osaw for water and is given a calabash of seven clear stones, each of which, planted in the ground, wells up into a lake or stream, and from these the rivers of the world are propagated by his descendants. When one greedy son empties a whole basket of stones in one place, a flood threatens to drown the earth until Obassi Osaw checks it at Etim 'Ne's prayer, leaving a single lake. In the companion fire myth, Etim 'Ne sends a boy to the sky who, refused fire by Obassi Osaw, steals a burning brand and carries the first fire to earth. Etim 'Ne is remembered as the bringer of water and the namer of the rivers.

Domains

• origin of waters
• first ancestor and culture hero

Powers

• to bring the rivers and lakes into being on the earth
• to obtain fire for humankind

Relations

• spouse: EjawEtim 'Ne and Ejaw (the Wildcat) are the first man and woman, who come down together from the sky; their seven sons and seven daughters people the earth.Harold Scheub, A Dictionary of African Mythology: The Mythmaker as Storyteller (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). (secondary)
• subordinate to: Obassi OsawAs the first man on earth, Etim 'Ne petitions the sky god Obassi Osaw, who grants him the seven water-stones but refuses him fire, and later checks the flood at his prayer.P. Amaury Talbot, In the Shadow of the Bush (London: William Heinemann, 1912). (secondary)

Sources

• Etim 'Ne ('Old Person') is the first man of Ekoi tradition, the culture hero who brings water to the earth with stones given by Obassi Osaw and procures the first fire from the sky.: P. Amaury Talbot, In the Shadow of the Bush (London: William Heinemann, 1912). (secondary); Harold Scheub, A Dictionary of African Mythology: The Mythmaker as Storyteller (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). (secondary)