THE CULT OP NYAKANG AND THE DIVINE KTNHS OF THE. SHILLUK 225 



assured. If not the Mek's [king's] election was nnpropitious, and the sheikhs might wish to 

 deliberate afresh. . . . Exhausted with loss of blood he walked leisurely, with 

 little persuasion, to the desired spot and there sank down." After this the ret drank 

 merissa and a sheep was slaughtered at the door of the hut he entered, i.e. presumably 

 his own fnkl. 



The Cult of Nyakanc; at his Cenotaph Sheines 



It has already been stated that there are ten tombs of Nyakang {kengo Nijakang). shrines of 

 Figs. 53 and 54 are views of two of the most celebrated of tliese, namely, those at Akurwa -^'yakang 

 and Penikang. The former consists of two huts, the latter of five. 



The keiujo Nyahmg are looked after by certain men and old women who are called 

 harlf hKii.g Nyakang, literally, " servant of the chief Nyakang." The original harit were 

 certain of the companions of Nyakang, who came with him to the Shilluk country, and their 

 immediate descendants, and, as far as possible, the attendants at the shrines at the present 

 time are their real or reputed descendants. Besides keeping the shrine scrupulously clean, 

 the old men act as priests, killing the animals brought as sacrifices, sharing their flesh and 

 taking their skins for themselves. They are also responsible for the disposal of the bones 

 of the sacrifice, which they throw into the river. 



The contents of the kengo Nyakang vary, but they always include certain sacred Contents oi 

 spears, which at Akurwa, and probably elsewhere, are not spoken of as fong, the 

 ordinary word for spear, but are called alodo. At one time these spears were those 

 used by Nyakang and his companions. It is, however, admitted that the originals have 

 disappeared, and they are often said to have been carried off by raiding Dervishes 

 during the Mahdia. The spears kept in the shrines at the present day are admittedly 

 modern, and have all been presented by one or other of the Shilluk kings. When too 

 many spears have accumulated some of the old ones may be given to the most important 

 men in the village — the chief of Akurwa showed me a spear which he assured me had 

 come from the shrine of Nyakang in his village. It was beautifully made, with a long 

 and narrow dagger-shaped head, which measured nearly 50 cm. in length by 6 cm. in 

 breadth, the maximum breadth being attained slightly below the blade, which sprang 

 from a socket nearly 12 cm. long. Although no difficulty was made in allowing lue to 

 handle this spear, my suggestion to buy it was put aside with perfect civility, hut 

 without the least hesitation. It was said that this spear was presented to the shrine 

 by the ret Kur, who was killed by the Dervishes. These spears are used to kill the 

 sacrifices brought to the shrine. 



The other contents of the shrines appear to vary ; the Akurwa shrine contains the 

 "stool of Nyakang"' referred to in the description of the installation of a new ret, and 

 also the object spoken of as " Nyakang." The nature of this latter does not appear to 

 be known to the majority of Shilluk, but the chief {hxng) of Akurwa made no difficulty 

 about telling me that this object was a piece of wood roughly carved into the shape of 

 a human figure, and that it had been prepared long ago at the connnand of Nyakang 

 himself. I could not discover that there was any idea that the spirit of Nyakang 

 inhabited this figure or was particularly attached to it, and when I asked him wliether 

 this was the case, my question elicited an immediate and forcible negative. 



The shrine of Nyakang at Fenikang consists of five tukJ. One of these, seen to the left xhc sinine at 

 of the foreground in Fig. 54 (and also in Figs. 57 and 58), is in a special sense the house of Fenikang 



' The cliief {birny) of Akurvv.a said that his family arc (■ailed humrinikwovi, i.e. "children of the stool," 

 on account of their being the guardians of the sacred stool. 



