Luak Nhialic - "Der Kuhstall Gottes" (Cow barn of God")

“Dieses Buch beschreibt ein großes Ritual der Agar-Dinka im Südsudan, wie es 1983 stattgefunden hat. Es wird mit vielen Opferzeremonien vorbereitet und wesentlich bestimmt und gipfelt im Abriß und Neubau eines Schreins, des »Kuhstalls Gottes «, Luak Nhialic. Fragt man die Agar, weshalb sie ihren Luak bauen, antworten sie: »Von ihm erhalten wir unser Leben. « Ein Gründungsmythos für den Bau des Luak berichtet, daß er in alter Zeit aus Menschen gebaut worden war. Erst als sich der mythische Ahn der heutigen Luak-Priester den göttlichen Bauvorschriften widersetzte, konnten Tieropfer die Menschenopfer ablösen, und Hölzer an die Stelle der Menschenleiber treten, aus denen man zuvor den Bau errichtet hatte.” (*p. 9)

*Irene Leverenz, 1994. Der Kuhstall Gottes. Ein Ritual der Agar-Dinka. (Sudanesische Marginalien) Trickster Publishers; 318 pages.

The material to being worked on is part of the legacy of Irene Leverenz. These audio recordings and note books serve the conservation of a unique and peaceful ritual of the Agar-Dinka in the early eighties in South Sudan.

The documentation and preservation of this ritual not only as a book enables the Agar-Dinka to have access to the original wordings of this peaceful ritual.

The legacy comprises audio recordings digitalised in 2014 as well as handwritten field notes and note books. Up to now, parts of the material have been published as a book* in German in 1994.

The material presented here could be reviewed within an anthropological PhD project and then result in an (online)documentation. Requirement to do so is knowledge of the languages English, German and Dinka.

Examples taken from the legacy

Example 1

Ceremony: Nyang ram Mangok (7 January 1983)
Handwritten Notes 1
(PDF, German, English, 20 pages)
Download: I+II_1-20.pdf

Audio Example 1
(Example taken from the files 5395_2.mp3 and 5396_1.mp3)
Download: Nyang ram Mangok_example.mp3, 5:32 min

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Example 1 taken from "Der Kuhstall Gottes", p. 80 - 94
(PDF, German)
Download: Leverenz_I_1994_Kuhstall_Gottes_80-94.pdf
Makuer blessing the sacrifice stack
Photography of the ceremony, in "Der Kuhstall Gottes" p. 158
(TIFF)
Download: bild-2.tif

Example 2

Malith-Bull invocation (22 June 1983)
Handwritten Notes 2
(PDF, German, English, 30 pages)
Download: Malith Bull invocation 1983 + participants.pdf

Audio Example 2
(Example taken from the file 5450_2.mp3)
Download: Malith Bull invocation_example.mp3, 4:46 min

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Example 2 taken from "Der Kuhstall Gottes", p. 116 - 130
(PDF, German)
Download: Leverenz_I_1994_Kuhstall_Gottes_116-130.pdf
Malith-Bull invocation
Photography taken from "Der Kuhstall Gottes" p. 158
(TIF)
Download: bild-3.tif
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