228 the cult of nyakaxg and the divine kings of the shilltk 



The Cult of the Shilluk Kings at theik Grave Shrines 



I have already pointed out that the tomb shrines of the Sliilluk kings are scarcely 



to be distinguished from the so-called "tombs" of Nyakang, and a brief account of the 



The guardians guardians of the tombs of the Shilluk kings and the ceremonies that take place at their 



f shrines will further show that the two cults are identical in form and feeling, and 



royal graves f 



vary only in matters of detail, due, apparently, to the supremely sacred quality of the 

 shrines of Nyakang. The grave shrines of the kings are tended by certain old men or 

 women who correspond to the barU hseng Nyakang. The guardians may be old women, 

 widows of the dead king, old men who were his servants during his lifetime, or their 

 descendants when they had reached the requisite age, or as a last resource when 

 none of these could be found, old women or old men not especially connected with 

 the dead king.' Just as no one except the bant bxng Ni/akang are allowed to enter the 

 fuki in which Nyakang is supposed to be present, so no stranger may enter the grave 

 tiikl of the kings. 



Mrs. Seligmann was told that any sister of the king may enter his grave tukl and 

 rub her hands on its floor for a blessing whenever she likes, though his brothers may 

 not do this, but a royal daughter may enter the grave tukl of her father and obtain 

 a blessing in this way. In spite of these privileges, women of the royal blood may not 

 enter the shrines, or even the enclosed space round the shrines, of other dead kings. 

 Should the spirit of one of these come to a royal daughter or sister in a dream and 

 demand an offering, she takes a sheep to the guardians of the tomb and gives it to one of 

 them to sacrifice, as if she were a commoner. There are cattle belonging to the grave 

 shrines of the kings, and offerings are made in the same way as at the shrines of Nyakang. 

 Thus, when the dura crop threatens to fail, or an epidemic sickness to come upon the cattle, 

 Nyakang, or one of his successors, will appear to someone in a dream and demand a 

 sacrifice. This is told to the king, who will immediately send a cow and a bullock to 

 one or more of the shrines of Nyakang if he had appeared, or to the grave shrine of the 

 appropriate king if the dreamer had seen one of the Shilluk kings. The bullock would 

 be killed, and the cow added to the herd belonging to the shrine. 



It is usual for the harvest ceremony (already alluded to on page 227) to be performed 

 at the royal grave shrines as well as at the shrines of Nyakang, though it is recognised 

 that this is not absolutely necessary. Again, each king soon after his installation sends, 

 or should send, presents to the grave shrines of his predecessors, treating these in the same 

 way as he treated the shrines of Nyakang, though the presents need not be so lavish. 

 Finally, sick folk send animals to be sacrificed as offerings at the shrines of their kings 

 just as they do to the shrines of Nyakang. 

 The Royal Although Fashoda has certainly been the royal village (Ja ret, literally, the place of the 



village king) from which the king has ruled the Shilluk for the last few decades and may have 



been the fa ret before that, there is evidence that it has not always been the home of the 

 ruling sovereign. Unfortunately, I did not make special enquiries as to this, but according 

 to tradition, Fenikang was the village of Nyakang and of his immediate successors, and 

 Dr. T. A. Lambie of the American Mission has independently come to the conclusion that 

 the first seven kings lived here or at Tatuga (Doleib Hill). Nyadwai, as already stated, 

 lived at Kodok and was buried there. Dr. Lambie speaks of Wawk, the second king after 

 Nyadwai, reigning at Apio village, near Tatuga, but on the other side of the Sobat Eiver, 

 and he further refers to two other kings whom he speaks of as the twelfth and thirteenth 



' Daughters of the king neyer become guardians of his grave shrine. 



