Amma



Amma is the supreme god in the mythology of the Dogon people of Mali in West Africa. Amma created a "cosmic egg," which was the source of the universe. The egg vibrated and then opened to reveal a creator spirit. The spirit fell to earth, followed by a female twin and four more pairs of creator spirits. These spirits made the sky and world, the seasons, day and night, and human society

cosmic large or universal in scale; having to do with the universe

In another version of this myth, Amma made the stars, the sun, and the moon. Then he became lonely and mated with the earth. This union produced divine twins called the Nummo—one male, one female—who represented water and light. The twins were born with the power of speech, which they gave to the earth. Next, Amma created man and woman. They had four more pairs of twins, who were the ancestors of the Dogon people.

See also African Mythology ; Nummo ; Stars ; Sun .



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