the Sky God of Heaven
Herero · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
High-god / sky-creator (deity). Distinct in function from the ancestral creator Mukuru: Ndjambi is the transcendent heaven-god, while Mukuru and the ancestors handle everyday petition. The compound name joins Ndjambi with Karunga, the same root as Ovambo Kalunga.
Domains
- sky
- rain
Powers
- bless and protect from the sky
Epithets
- Ndjambi Karunga The remote celestial high-god of the heavens, to whom the dead returnHerero ethnography (H. Vedder, on the Ovaherero) (secondary)
Sources
- Ndjambi Karunga is the Herero supreme sky-god of heaven, associated with clouds and rain, benevolent and rarely invoked directly; his name was held too sacred to utter.: Vedder, H. (1928). 'The Herero.' In The Native Tribes of South West Africa. Cape Town: Cape Times. (secondary); Estermann, C. (1981). The Ethnography of Southwestern Angola, vol. 3: The Herero People. New York: Africana. (secondary)