GARANG
allyHero
Garang is, in the Dinka mythology of South Sudan, the first man, shaped in clay by the creator god Nhialic. With Abuk, the first woman, he forms the primordial couple from whom humanity descends. The narrative shows him sharing with her an existence of scarcity, the creator granting them only a single grain of food per day. It is Abuk's gesture — pounding more grain and striking the deity — that brings about the withdrawal of Nhialic, the cutting of the rope between sky and earth, then the appearance of death and toil. Garang appears above all as the male ancestor of humanity and Abuk's counterpart. He must be distinguished from a free divinity sometimes named Garang or Gerrang, associated with the sky and variously described as malevolent or healing according to the authors. This homonymy has fed confusions in the sources. The figure of the first man is documented above all through the collected narratives on the Dinka creation and the ethnography of Godfrey Lienhardt.
Powers & Attributes
Role in the ROHO universe
Voice of its pantheon. GARANG carries the memory of its tradition and weaves a thread into the Mabioni. Bound to the Dinka pantheon.
Sacred Mask
An ancient ritual mask of sacred wood, old metal and black stone, engraved with symbols of first man, embodiment of the power of Garang
Era
Ancient cycle
Frequently asked questions
Who is Garang in Dinka mythology?
Garang is the first man, modelled in clay by the creator Nhialic. With Abuk, the first woman, he forms the original couple from whom humanity descends.
Should Garang the first man be confused with the deity Garang?
No. The sources distinguish Garang, the human ancestor and husband of Abuk, from a free divinity sometimes called Garang or Gerrang, bound to the sky. The homonymy explains frequent confusions.
What role does Garang play in the myth of death?
Garang shares with Abuk the single ration imposed by the creator. When Abuk transgresses this limit and wounds the deity, Nhialic withdraws, the rope between sky and earth is cut and death enters the world.
Related spirits
Sources and references
- Godfrey Lienhardt, Divinity and Experience: The Religion of the Dinka, Oxford University Press, 1961
- Charles Gabriel Seligman et Brenda Z. Seligman, Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan (1932)
- Francis Mading Deng, Dinka Cosmology (1980)