Gĩkũyũ Heritage: Exploring the Rich History and Traditions of the Agĩkũyũ People

The Kikuyu are the most populous community in Kenya The House of Mumbi The Kikuyu do not have a tradition of a migration from Egypt. Their Myth of Origin is a sort of Adam and Eve affair. It states that God created a man and a woman and placed them near Mount Kenya. The couple had nine daughters who miraculously received nine men to marry them after their father’s prayers. The Kikuyu call themselves  The House of Mumbi  in honor of this  Mother  who was also a potter. However, as I will show here, linguistic and comparative studies between Kikuyu culture and that of 18 th  Dynasty Egypt tell a different story. Who were the Kikuyu? The Kikuyu are classified linguistically as Highland Bantus together with the Kamba, Kuria and Gusii, Embu, Tharaka, and Meru of Kenya. The latter three are classified as Kikuyu by this researcher due to their common origins. The other Highland Bantus in East Africa are the Meru (Tanzanian), Segeju, Sonjo, Ikoma, Chagga, Gweno, S...

  The Mũkũyũ (Ficus sycomorus) was the sacred tree of Kikuyu. in its absence, the Mugumo (Ficus natalensis/thoningii) was used  Image from Wikipedia commons The Kikuyu People of Kenya The Kikuyu people of Central Kenya believed in one God. They also had a concept of ‘being born again,’ and every child had to undergo a ritual of being born again to be a complete member of the community. When the firstborn child was ready for religious instructions, the child’s uncle from the mother’s side, known as  Nyar ũ me , charged a fee in goats to pierce three holes in the upper earlobe of the child. Three sticks, known as  ndũgĩra , were inserted in those holes like aerials that directed the new information into the ear for memorisation. In Kikuyu, God is called Ngai or  Mwenenyaga The Kikuyu religion was not separate from the ordinary lives of the people. One did not have the choice to either believe or not believe. There were no atheists. Everything a Kikuyu did or did n...