Nzakomba
Mongo · deity · Mongo traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Nzakomba, more often Njakomba in the Lomongo orthography, is the supreme being of the Mongo-Nkundo peoples of the Tshuapa and Cuvette forests. In ordinary speech his proper name is treated with reserve and replaced by the title Bomongo, 'the Owner' or 'the Proprietor', a usage that gave its name to the very people. He is understood as the maker of the world and the one who discerns and disposes the hearts and thoughts of human beings and animals; the cosmic order he establishes is the stage upon which the founding ancestor Lonkundo and his line act out the national epic. The name belongs to the broad Bantu family of creator-names of the Nzambi and Nyambe type.
Domains
- creation of the world
- supreme sovereignty
Powers
- to create the world and all living kinds
- to know and govern the hearts and thoughts of people and animals
Epithets
- BomongoKorse, P. (2010). 'Bomóngó. The notion of Bomóngó, the Supreme Being by the Mongo (R.D. Congo).' Annales Aequatoria 28(1): 31-73. (secondary)
Sources
- Nzakomba (Njakomba), everyday called Bomongo 'the Owner', is the high god and creator of the Mongo-Nkundo of the central Congo basin.: Korse, P. (2010). 'Bomóngó. The notion of Bomóngó, the Supreme Being by the Mongo (R.D. Congo).' Annales Aequatoria 28(1): 31-73. (secondary); Hulstaert, G. (1961). Les Mongo: aperçu général. Tervuren: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale (Annales, Sciences humaines, n.s. 5). (secondary)