worship four gods. Scarification rites conducted
by the Tiv people include four generations of par-
ticipants. In West Africa, the symbol of women in
childbirth is four. The Kikuyu emblems of power
are the center of command, knife, sacred horn,
and lance. Kumu people are divided into four
cohorts of old men, young men, circumcised
youth, and children.
Meanings of the Numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8A Yoruban myth posits that their supreme god gave
his eldest daughter a five-fingered chicken. Bozo
ornaments include the number 5, and the Bozo
believe this number supports seed germination.
However, the Akan people consider the number 5
to be an extremely bad omen. Males of the Nuer
people have six horizontal incisions.
Nyame, the Ashanti god, descended to Earth
on the sixth day, and Bete warriors are sequestered
for 6 days before going to battle.
Ibo people say there are seven causes of death.
For the Bambara, seven corresponds to seven stages
of life, seven Heavens, seven Earths, seven waters,
and seven stages in the growth of millet. The Teda
bride and groom are forbidden to leave their house
for 7 days. Bougouini people conduct initiation cer-
emonies every 7 years. But for the Vuguus, the
number 7 is bad luck. Zulus, however, regard seven
in two ways. It is bad as a dowry offering, but
acceptable if the woman has been divorced. The
Akan have high regard for the number 7. Their
state is made up of seven clans that are associated
with seven planets. Each day of their 7-day week is
ruled by one of seven deities. Seven is an avoided
number for the Kolokuma Ljo people because of its
association with divinities. To the Malinke,sevenis
a forbidden word. In speaking, they use a combina-
tion of six-one for seven.
The Dogon people revere the number 8. They
believe there were eight original ancestors who
brought into being the eight clans. Among the
grains, eight are mystical. It is believed that these
eight reside within the collarbone of each Dogon
and represent a spiritual bond between the Dogon
and their crops.
Zetla K. ElviSeealsoSeven; Three
Further ReadingsCola, A. J. (1990).Numeros simbolicos y rituals en el
Africa subsahariana[Symbolic Numbers and Rituals
in Sub-Saharan Africa]. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Duthoy, P. (1993).Parallellisme of convergente evolutie
van de geloofsmythen en Symbolen bij het
Christendom en de Afrikaanse slammen
[Parellelism or Convergent Evolution of the Myth
of Faith and Symbols by Christianity and the
African Tribes]. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Libraries.
Sawyer, H. (1970). The Significance of the Numbers
Three and Four Among the Mende of Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone Studies, pp. 29–36.
Smith, E. W. (1952). African Symbolism.The Journal of
the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland, 82 , 13–37.
Turner, V. W. (1973). Symbols in African Ritual.Science,
179 , 1100–1105.
Zaslavsky, C. (1999).Africa Counts: Number and
Pattern in African Cultures(3rd ed.). Chicago:
Lawrence Hill Books.NYAME
Nyame or Onyame is the name of God, the
Supreme Being in the Akan (from Ghana) concep-
tual system. Nyame corresponds to the spiritual
idea of Deity. The Supreme Being is also referred
to as Onyankopon as well as Odomankoma.
Onyankopong in the Akan spiritual system repre-
sents the Supreme Being (Deity), whereas
Odomankoma is an Infinite Being whose Beginning
and End are unknown to humans. The three names,
Nzame, Onyankopon, and Odomankoma, exist to
identify the Supreme Creator, the Originator of the
Universe, and the Infinite, respectively. He created
all things, and he is continually creating and
restructuring his universe. From philology and ety-
mology, other names of African origin, such as
Nyambi or Nzambi from East Africa, seem to have
sameness as Nzame/Nyame.
Nyame is one God that links the Akan religious
belief system to monotheism. This is revealed by
the fact that Nyame is one word in the Akan lan-
guage that has no plural root by linguistic464 Nyame