POPULATION: about 150,000
RELIGION: Animism; indigenous beliefs
RELATED ARTICLES: Vol. 1: Dinka; Nuer; Sudanese
The Shilluk have long occupied a region along the White Nile in the modern Sudan. It is estimated that Prenilotes may have been present in the area from the 4th millennium bc. Arab travelers to the central Sudan in the 9th century ad recorded Prenilotic Barea and Kunama peoples in this area. During the Funj Sultanates from 1504 to 1821, it appears that slave raiders attacked Shilluk lands. Regional disturbances during the Funj Sultanates probably led to some southward migration of the Shilluk in the 16th century and to a more concentrated village pattern. Perhaps reflecting this time, the Shilluk mythology records that Nyakang (Nyikang) was the first reth or king to unify the Shilluk people in a proto-state formation.
The area was first reached by Europeans in the 18th century. The Ottoman slave raids of the early 19th century victimized the Shilluk. Ottoman administration reached them in 1867. Mahdist rule (1884–98) was generally resisted by the Shilluk as they were set upon by zealous and slave-raiding Arabs from the north. The Shilluk region was again inaccessible to Europeans at this time. It was not until the early 20th century that serious ethnographic and historical attention began to be paid to the Shilluk. Even then, the interest was focused on the concerns of the British colonial administration and missionaries who were in the Shilluk region. A new census is planned but not yet conducted.
LOCATION AND HOMELAND
The Shilluk are concentrated along the western banks and islands of the White Nile, especially between the Renk-Malakal reach, as well as being located on the lower section of the Sobat River. In other terms, they live between 9° and 14° degrees north latitude, about 640 km (400 mi) south of Khartoum, the modern national capital of the Sudan. Malakal, the present provincial capital, is in the southern portion of Shilluk land, but on the east bank of the Nile.
The precise ancestral homeland of the Prenilotic Shilluk is unknown but is likely to be in the present vicinity of Shilluk concentration. Perhaps it was they who replaced the aboriginal hunting and gathering population. The Shilluk and Nilotic people are remarkably tall (179 cm or 5 ft 10 in on average) and lean and may be distinguished from other neighboring Africans for this reason. Blood samples of the Shilluk and other Nilotics show Rh-allele frequencies which are notably different from all their neighbors. Even though malaria is now present in Shilluk lands, they also have a very low frequency of sickle cell alleles. These facts add up to a picture of long-term isolation.
The ecosystem is mainly grasslands, swampy river banks, and islands, but some trees appear in places. There are something like 150 compacted hamlets (myer) constituting the Shilluk domain. They are divided into the Ger (northern) and Luak (southern) royal districts. Each of these has its own supreme chief and royal settlement at Golbany and Kwom, just north and south of the central capital at Fashoda (also known as Kodok) on the western bank. The royal heads of Ger and Luak must concur about the appointment of a new reth.
At Fashoda the reth usually makes his royal residence with his royal children, courtiers, bodyguards, and retainers (bang reth), and his wives. It is here that he receives the council of lineage elders, while he sits on his royal stool-throne. Fashoda was also the site of an historic meeting in 1898 of the military forces of the French (under Major Marchand) and the English (under General Kitchener) in determining the European partition of the Sudan. The French withdrew; the Sudan became an Anglo-Egyptian colony.
Neighboring the Shilluk to the east are the related Anuak people; to the immediate south are the Nuer and the vast Sudd papyrus swamplands which blocked exploration for millennia. In the 19th century the region supported large elephant herds, which have since been decimated for their ivory. Further to the southwest are large populations of Dinka. West of the Shilluk are diverse sedentary peoples of the Nuba mountains. To the northwest the Shilluk meet various nomadic Arab peoples from whom they must sometimes defend themselves.
The Shilluk belong to the Eastern subfamily of the Sudanic linguistic stock. The Sudanic languages have only a few loan words from the Semitic languages to the north or Cushitic languages to the east. Within the Sudanic stock, the Shilluk are further identified with the Nilotic language speakers, which also include the Anuak and Meban peoples, who are collectively considered as Prenilotes. The Shilluk preceded, but are related to, other Nilotic groups, like the Nuer and Dinka, whose languages are understood by many Shilluk. The Shilluk are also self-known as the “Chollo.” Gender, number, and case can be noted in the Shilluk language.
As with most animist or polytheist religious systems, the sacred and secular worlds of the Shilluk are linked. Spiritual forces abound in animals, elements, and places, and the folklore of the Shilluk serves to integrate the people with this worldview through storytelling, origin myths, sacrifices, and invocations. For example, the great creator, Jo-uk, is tied through four supernatural generations to Nyakang, the founder of the Shilluk rethship.
The father of Nyakang, U-kwa, has many folkloric expressions. He lived along the Nile, where he was attracted to women with half-crocodile bodies who lived in the water. Tempted by these women, U-kwa captured two of them (Nik-ki-yah and Ung-wahd). Their cries quickly drew their father (U-dil-jil), whose presence had been unknown. The father's left side was human, while his right side was a green crocodile. After some debate and negotiation, U-kwa married the women and from his wife Nik-ki-yah he had his son Nik-kang (likewise half-man and half-crocodile). From a third wife, U-kwa had three more sons, one of whom was Du-wad, who became Nyakang's rival as reth. The conflict escalated and was only resolved when Nyakang and his brothers, Omoi and Jew, created a new kingdom at the mouth of the Sobat River. There, Nyakang created men and women from hippopotamuses, crocodiles, and wild animals to populate his kingdom. The animal ancestors died and the Shilluk people were thereby born.
Nevertheless, Nik-ki-yah lives forever, usually as a crocodile, and she is sometimes offered a goat as a sacrifice. Occasionally, in trials-by-ordeal, suspected people are forced into the river to be judged by Nik-ki-yah. Fear of crocodiles quickly has them confessing.
The complex animist religious beliefs of the Shilluk are held most devoutly. The most important spiritual force is that of Nyakang. Special annual sacrifices are made to Nyakang at the start of the rainy season. In addition to this ancestral spirit of all Shilluk, there is also the universal Shilluk creator god, Jouk, with whom deceased persons will reside eternally, if they are well-behaved during their lifetime. According to Shilluk origin myths, it was from the Nile that Jo-uk created D'ung Adduk (White Cow). In turn, D'ung Adduk gave birth to a son, Kola, whom she nursed. Kola had a son named U-mahra, whose son was Wad-maul, whose son was U-kwa, who was the father of Nyakang, ancestor of all reths. A few Shilluk have turned to Islam and Christianity, but traditional beliefs are still strongly held. As more Shilluk are educated more are turning toward Christian faiths.
The Western concept of “holiday” is not really inherent to Shilluk life, but some note may be given to Sudanese national holidays such as Independence Day on 1 January. Those who are Muslim or Christian might follow those religious celebrations. For the Shilluk, the chief “holidays” would be the installation of a new reth, a marriage festivity, collective fishing and harvesting, and especially the celebration of Nyakang at the start of the rainy season, which involves the slaughtering of animals, dancing, and drinking fermented sorghum (merisa). Most villages have a shrine to Nyakang where amulets and charms may be placed to invoke ancestral spirits, often by a tree.
The election of a reth is considered the most significant event in Shilluk life. This integrates the society with its traditions, provides for political leadership and continuity, and presents the greatest opportunity for public oratory and group confirmation. A notable amount of the literature on the Shilluk is focused on the transfer of rethships.
The first stage in the appointment of a reth begins with a mock battle without real spears. This “battle” between the northern and southern Shilluk groups is mediated by a messenger who carries scornful retorts between the two “competing” groups. An effigy of the reth is symbolically paraded with an ostrich-feather fan shade which is placed on the royal stool. When the effigy is restored to its shrine, the new reth will be infused with the spirit of Nyakang, and he can then assume the official responsibilities by sitting on the royal stool.
The bipartite or moiety structure of the Shilluk is based on a model of segmentary opposition, similar to a modern monarchy with a bicameral parliament. The chiefs of each component settlement group (podh) of the Ger and Luak districts are consulted at a lower level. Typically a reth's son does not inherit from his father, although the work of Evans-Pritchard presents the opposing view that he usually does. In any case, a new reth is found from a prince (nyireth) or close relative, or from a different natal village, often during an interregnum struggle. The ritual conflict preceding the appointment and purification of the reth is a central feature of Shilluk society.
Some early reports state that regicide was practiced by royal wives or close kinfolk when a reth was deemed to be too ill, old, or ineffective to continue in office. Evans-Pritchard (1962: 76, 82–83) considers that the reports of institutional regicide were a fiction but that violent ends for reths certainly did occur amidst the precarious balance in Shilluk political life. In any case, the persistent discussion of regicide, whether symbolic or real, is not only a warning to seated reths but is also a symbolic expression that the spirit of Nyakang is no longer at ease and needs transfer, since the spirit of Nyakang resides eternally with the reth, and the reth himself is mortal.
As the reth gains his position through the council of lineage elders (jal dwong pac), it seems evident that the council can also determine that a prince (nyireth) of the royal clan (kwareth) is justified in recognizing a failed rethship, and that regicide is appropriate so that intraethnic struggles can be avoided and the continuity of the Shilluk people thereby ensured. A certain measure of rotation between the royal lineages (kwareth) of the north and south also assists in reaching this political equilibrium.
Clearly the reth will be eternally nervous about his position and he will make public efforts to be responsive to the lineage elders. Alternatively he will make special provisions to be protected by armed attendants and to be aloof and reserved. The formal, mock battle between village groups symbolizes the actual power struggles for this prestigious appointment.
The Celebration of the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accord is observed nationally.
RITES OF PASSAGE
Unlike many Sudanese Arabs, few Shilluk girls are subject to female circumcision as a rite of prepubesence. The practice of removing the lower incisor teeth is common for Shilluk youths, as well as ethnic scarification which consists of making a series of raised bumps across the forehead just above the eyebrows. Other decorative scars are also known. The umbilicus of baby boys is buried to the right of the front door while Shilluk girls have their umbilicus buried to the left. Other gender-differentiated customs are seen with Shilluk boys who have noted puberty rites of passage while Shilluk girls have few special rites and are rarely subject to female circumcision. Likewise dancing, clothing, decoration and child names are gender specific.
The death of commoners is followed by burial in the ground, unlike other Nilotes who may use water burial. Upon the death of the reth, the corpse is walled in his royal house, which thereby becomes his temporary tomb. Later his bones are collected for interment in the hamlet of his birth.
Male or female commoners are washed and shaved at death and wrapped in a shroud. The body is rested on its right side with the head facing easterly. Post-mortem memorial services take place first at graveside, a few months later, and for higher status person a commemoration can take place a year or more later.
The interpersonal relations of Shilluk people are guided by kinship, social hierarchy, and gender. They follow a form of matrilineal descent, unlike their Arab neighbors to the north. The Shilluk follow a descriptive type of cousin terminology which implies specific role relationships within the kinship network. Lineage membership is a critical feature of interpersonal relations. Within lineage groups, solidarity is maintained by age-grade cohorts, which are common in societies requiring military defense for the nation and the reth. The position of the reth is also distinguished by deferential behavior, sociolinguistic markers, a hippo-hide whip and staffs, use of royal antelope skins for dress, ritual stepping over color-selected bulls, and the exclusion of children from the royal compound. The well-being of the bang reth (the reth's retainers) rests upon their unquestioned loyalty, which is rewarded by the reth through provision of food and security.
Aside from the royal personnel (bang reth) surrounding the reth at Fashoda, the Shilluk have a second class of people who are high-ranking but without legitimate access to the rethship. An additional group of nobility are known, but these are the Shilluk who had access to authority in the past and are no longer associated with the reth. The largest group of Shilluk are commoners (colo) who belong to various lineages but are not high-ranking whatsoever and are expected to show deference to those who are. Last in the traditional hierarchy are slaves who have entered Shilluk society as war captives, for punishment, by purchase, or as refugees from famine and disorder.
The reth and the council of lineage elders are responsible for maintaining order in Shilluk society. If conflicts arise withinlineages, the elder or his council intervenes; if there are conflicts between lineages, such as raiding, adultery, or theft, the reth intervenes and, under his almost absolute authority, he can apply various punishments such as confiscation of property or enslavement with use of his royal bodyguard. Adultery with the daughter of a reth is punished by death. The reth also controls trade in ivory, giraffe tails, and slaves. Toniolo and Hill (1975: 251) estimate that in 1876, two-thirds of the slaves in the northern Sudanese town of Wad Medani were of Shilluk, Dinka, and “Fertit” origin.
The Shilluk live in hamlets of compact villages made of round houses (tukls) of wattle and daub construction and with conical thatched roofs. The house of the lineage-head, especially if he is the reth, might be placed on a higher elevation indicative of higher status. Electricity, piped water, and other conveniences were not present until modern times in the provincial capital. Many Shilluk have moved from rural areas to Malakal, the largest regional center.
Shilluk marriage is a primary institution which requires the use of a considerable quantity of livestock to collect the bride-wealth payments for completing the marriage contract. Unlike Arabs, Shilluk usually avoid marrying first cousins, and they practice lineage exogamy. However, like Arabs, the Shilluk do allow for polygyny, in particular a man marrying sets of sisters (sororal marriage). Postmarital life follows a pattern of matripatrilocal (sometimes avunculocal) residence in a compound of houses. If the household is polygynous, then additional houses are built to accommodate the other family members with their mothers.
Today most Shilluk men wear Western clothing or Arab jellabiyas, but traditional attire is still seen. For women, traditional clothing was either animal-hide wraps, skirts (rahat), or aprons. Women's hair was usually shaven. Males were traditionally naked, but a reth or his noblemen could wear a toga-like garment. For men and women, armlets, breastplates, bracelets, beads, bells, necklaces, and body-painting were common. For men, hair sculpture (especially in a popular flared helmet shape, protected at night by a headrest) and ostrich feathers in the hair were widespread. For those young men with military functions, their dress would not be complete without their narrow hide-shields, clubs, spears with broad leaf-shaped points, drums, and leopard skins.
The Shilluk are predominantly sedentary farmers of the fertile banks and islands in the White Nile. Their economy is based on the Sudanic food complex of millet (durra) or sorghum, but other foods such as corn, melons, okra, sesame, and beans are also known. The durra is fermented to make an alcoholic drink (merisa). As farmers they are endowed with livestock including sheep, goats, and especially cattle which play important roles in religion and kinship. However, cattle for the Shilluk are not nearly as significant as they are for the neighboring Nuer and Dinka. Shilluk men are in charge of milking the cows, and they do not use fresh cattle blood, unlike the Dinka and Nuer. Because the Shilluk are riverfolk, their foods are diversified by hunting and fishing. Antelope-hunting on royal island preserves is restricted.
Only under British colonialism and under post-independence Sudanese governments did the Shilluk receive a formal secular or missionary education. Traditional education was structured around acquiring the skills of an agricultural and military population. On the other hand, the transmission of oral history was very important, especially in maintaining the lineage system from which political leadership emerged for the council of elders and the reth.
The population of the Shilluk has not been properly counted for years, but early in the post-colonial period there were at least 110,000 Shilluk-speakers who shared a common cultural heritage. The Shilluk's unique office of the reth and the role of Nyakang bond them closely together in their villages and region. The Shilluk traditions of the royal throne, semi-divine kingship, dynastic rule, social hierarchies, sororal marriage, oppositional division of the kingdom, the use of a water purification ritual, and origin myths are noted to be held in common with ancient Egyptians. The degree to which this may be true, and the direction of cultural borrowing, is not determined with precision, but the hypothesis that these two ancient Nile valley populations are related remains an important subject for research.
For the traditional Shilluk, work is assigned by gender, age-grade, and lineage rank. The reth, ranking princes, and lineage elders do very little physical work, while females are heavily engaged in domestic tasks, food production, and child care. Young males have cultivating, fishing, herding, and hunting tasks. Dugout canoes (2.5–6m or 8–20 ft long) and small reed floats (ambatch) are made for fishing and local transport.
Some modern Shilluk play soccer.
ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION
Traditional recreation was usually aimed at improving military and hunting skills, such as at the mock battles that surrounded the election of a new reth. Songs, poetry, and call-and-response dancing are popular. Among the popular dances are a mock threat “war dance” with infantry spear charges; an amusing hyena dance-play in which hunters stalk and “kill” an enacted hyena threatening sleeping children; and a lion dance in which masked dancers appear with lion heads and are pursued by hunters until wounded and killed.
FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES
Like other Nilotes, the Shilluk entertain themselves with public and private discourse which can include folklore. Expressions of folk arts are in jewelry, clay sculpture, hairstyling, and hide-tanning.
The gravest structural challenge within traditional Shilluk society is the interregnum between reths. This potentially conflictful time can sometimes spill over into violence. Meanwhile, relations between Dinka and Nuer can involve mutual cattle-raiding which can evolve into wider conflicts. During the current war in the southern Sudan, these ethnic groups sometimes spend as much time quarreling among themselves as against their perceived common enemies in the Afro-Arab northern Sudan.
Among the greatest present social problems are regional development and security, as well as the prejudicial attitude of some northern Sudanese towards southerners. Many post-colonial governments in Khartoum have pursued military rather than political solutions for national integration, and the Shilluk have long occupied a main river route connecting these conflicting regions. The economic development of the Shilluk and their survival from famine, relocation, and military operations have been major concerns.
Traditionally Shilluk culture was markedly patriarchal and paternalistic as the ruling positions were dominated by men, although it is reputed that in the mid-17th century one reth, Abudok nya Bwoc, was a woman. Also, in such cases woman-to-woman marriage was rare but possible. However, at present after many years of regional civil war between Arab northerners and southern Nilotics there have were many instances of gender violence such as rape and assault. Generally the Shilluk managed to be somewhat less involved in the main battlefields and contests for power, with some important exceptions in contests for political and military leadership.
As a result of the historic Comprehensive Peace Accord of 2005, the southern Shilluk women were more empowered to address gender roles and improved the position of women in general and address some specific matters in education and in HIV/AIDS education. Thus traditional social values are intact, but are being negotiated more substantially than previously. The prominent Shilluk national leaders such as Pagan Amum Okech, Lam Akol Ajawin, and Peter Adwok Nyaba are also oriented to progressive and more secular models of cultural transformation that have helped to improve the position of Shilluk women.
Dugmore, A. Radclyffe. The Vast Sudan. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1924.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E., “The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk of the Nilotic Sudan” [based on his Frazer lecture in 1948]. In Essays in Social Anthropology, Glencoe, NY: Free Press, 1962.
Giffen, J. Kelly. The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. London: F. H. Revell, 1905.
Grotanelli, V. L. “Pre-Niloti.” In Annales Lateranensi, 12 (1948): 282–326.
Howell, P. P. “The Shilluk Settlement.” In Sudan Notes and Records, 24 (1941): 47–67.
Howell, P. P., and W. P. G. Th omson. “The Death of a Reth of the Shilluk and the Installation of His Successor.” In Sudan Notes and Records, (1946).
Murdock, George P. Africa, Its Peoples and Their Culture History. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959.
Pumphrey, M. E. C. “The Shilluk Tribe.” In Sudan Notes and Records, 24 (1941): 1–45.
Roberts, D. F., E. W. Ikin, and A. E. Mourant. “Blood Groups of the Northern Nilotes.” In Annnals of Human Genetics 20 (1955): 135–154.
Roberts, D. F., and D. R. Bainbridge. “Nilotic Physique. “In American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 21 (1963): 341–70.
Roberts, Edward, ed. The Shilluk. In Disappearing World videotape series. Granada, 1976.
Toniolo, Elias, and Richard Hill, ed. The Opening of the Nile Basin, 1842–1881. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1975.
—by R. Lobban, Jr.
The Shilluk are the most northern Nilotic-speaking people in modern Africa. Shilluk country covers approximately 320 kilometers on the west bank of the White Nile, from 10° to 12° N and from 30° to 33° E. Shilluk oral traditions, however, indicate that at some time in the past their country reached to the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, the site of the modern city of Khartoum. At the time of the last official census (1956), the Shilluk were estimated to number 120,000 individuals. Most of Shilluk country is open savanna and free from the annual floods of the White Nile. The Shilluk language is most closely related to Anuak. Together, the two languages comprise a subfamily of the larger classification of Nilotic, which is spoken by different cultural groups throughout eastern Africa.
History and Cultural Relations
Considerable controversy surrounds the topic of the history and origins of the Shilluk. Indeed, the "origin" and history of all of the Nilotic peoples of the southern Sudan remains an enigma in the field of African prehistory. According to Shilluk oral traditions, the early descendants of these people began to migrate into their present country some three to four hundred years before the present. The quasi-mythical or epic leader of the first settlement is known as Nyikang, an individual with both divine and secular powers. At one time, Nyikang and his brother Gilo had a disagreement, and, as a result, Gilo and his supporters separated to migrate south and east. Like Nyikang for the Shilluk, Gilo is now cited as the culture hero and founder of the Anuak. Anthropologists posit that, before they arrived in their present country, the Shilluk practiced a nomadic form of pastoralism. As they eventually spread out and settled in more permanent communities, a horticultural mode of livelihood eventually replaced their primary dependence on cattle.
The distribution of Shilluk communities has been likened to beads on a string, spread out on the banks of the White Nile, the one separated from the next by a distance of from 180 meters to 1.5 kilometers. Settlements range in size from hamlets made up of the mud and thatched-roof huts of a few families to villages of some one hundred families. At roughly the center of Shilluk country is the village of Pachoda, the residence of each succeeding Shilluk "king" (see "Sociopolitical Organization"). Population densities in Shilluk country exceed all others among the Nilotic-speaking peoples of the southern Sudan. Each hamlet is formed around a cluster of patrilineal kin who claim membership in a common clan. Individual clans are dispersed widely throughout Shilluk country. Postmarital residence is patrilocal, and each homestead within a hamlet consists of a hut for each adult man as well as a separate dwelling for each of his wives.
The Shilluk keep small herds of cattle, in addition to larger flocks of sheep and goats. Cattle are normally used for food only in the context of ritual and ceremonial occasions. In the evening, the cattle are tethered around dung fires in an effort to lessen the adverse effects of biting flies and insects. Shilluk aggressively and successfully exploit the rich resources of the White Nile and regularly catch many species of fish with fishing nets and spears. They also hunt hippopotamuses. Less frequently, small hunting parties are organized to pursue antelope, buffalo, and giraffes. Hamlets are surrounded by gardens of millet, maize, and sesame, as well as other species introduced during the twentieth century. The Shilluk also cultivate tobacco for personal use and for sale. Herding, hunting, and spearfishing are primarily male activities; women traditionally have manufactured cooking utensils, cultivated gardens, and prepared food.
The Shilluk are divided into some one hundred patrilineal and exogamous clans. Clans are not localized and have no specific territorial referents. Instead, clans are scattered widely through different hamlets. Conversely, the lineages that comprise clans are conceived of as localized groups. As Wall (1976, 155) notes, the family homesteads (gol) or those of individual lineage members are grouped together to form hamlets of agnatically related kin. A hamlet of this type may include as many as fifty homesteads. Ultimately, these scattered hamlets may form a larger settlement with a clearly defined territory. In each hamlet there is an original or "owner" lineage, called a diel. The Shilluk, like the other Nilotic-speaking peoples of southern Sudan, have a system of relationship terminology that is commonly known as "descriptive." Legal marital unions are established by the exchange of bride-wealth cattle, which pass from the agnatic kin of the groom to the adult members of the bride's family. A man is commonly 25 years old before his first marriage, whereas it is customary for a young woman marry before she reaches the end of her teen years. A wedding feast in the bride's father's homestead follows the exchange of bride-wealth cattle. At the end of these festivities, the bride and groom return to establish their own homestead in the hamlet of the groom's father. It is reported that a mock battle is enacted between the groom's and the bride's kin, once the last of the promised bride-wealth cattle are given. The ideal number of bride-wealth cattle should amount to at least ten animals, including cows, oxen, and a bull. In addition, the bride's family expects to receive diek nom, a number of sheep, as well as jam nom, gifts of spears and other goods. The latter gifts belong to the parents of the bride, but the sheep are distributed among the bride's agnatic kin. When a wife is pregnant for the first time, it is customary for her to return to her natal village to give birth.
At the hamlet level, the primary political figures of traditional life were settlement "chiefs," who, ideally, were nominated from the diel, or founding lineage. The position of village "chief is subject to the approval of the reth, or "king," of the Shilluk. All Shilluk settlements collectively comprise a dual division of Shillukland, between Luak in the south and Ger in the north. The reth of the Shilluk is a living symbol of the unity of Shilluk history, culture, and polity, and each succeeding reth is thought to be possessed by the spirit of Nyikang, the Shilluk culture hero and first king. Nyikang is intimately associated with the spirit the Shilluk call "Juok," and, in consequence, each reth is though to be an incarnation of the past within the world of the present. Because of this association between a spiritual power and a mortal human being, the Shilluk reth has sometimes been referred to as a "divine king." The selection and the installation of a new reth are woven in a complex web of ritual and symbolism. Modern anthropologists still do not agree on the process through which a reth was selected in precolonial days. It is certain that the final candidate to become a new reth had to be approved by both northern and southern Shilluk. Civil war would erupt unless unanimous agreement was achieved. Evans-Pritchard (1948) suggested that the reth of the Shilluk reigned but did not rule. What he meant was that the reth was the incarnation of a sacred order of an ideal Shilluk society. His "kingly" status derived from sacred authority rather than secular power. The present reth of the Shilluk is the thirty-first in succession since the origin of Shilluk polity. His status and authority have been transformed in the twentieth century, first by British colonial policy in Sudan and second by the strictures created by the independent government of Sudan.
Shilluk religious concepts are drawn into relief by an emphasis on the creator-god or divinity known as Juok (a common Nilotic term for a spiritual power), the veneration of Nyikang through the persons who become kings, and the recognition of the ways in which the spirits of the deceased can affect those who survive them. Juok is a ubiquitous spirit, a phenomenon manifest in all places and at all times. Juok can be addressed through sacrifice of cattle, goats, and sheep. Juok is also strongly associated in Shilluk thought with the river spirit that first gave birth to Nyikang. Most Western depictions of Shilluk religion have been colored by nineteenth-century visions of "primitive religion." The Shilluk figured prominently in evolutionary schemes put forward to depict the course of religious evolution. Ironically, although the Shilluk have become well known in the anthropological literature, no prolonged research has been carried out by a trained observer in their settlements. Thus, much of what has been written about the Shilluk relies upon data that were collected in an inconsistent manner in the early twentieth century.
Arens, W. (1979). "The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk: A Contemporary Reevaluation." Ethnos 44:167-181.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (1948). The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lienhardt, R. G. (1954). "The Shilluk of the Upper Nile." In African Worlds, edited by D. Forde, 138-163. London: Oxford University Press.
Seligman, C. G., and B. Z. Seligman (1932). Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Wall, L. (1976). "Anuak Politics, Ecology, and the Origins of Shilluk Kingship." Ethnobgy 15:151-162.
Westerman, D. (1912). The Shilluk People. Philadelphia: United Presbyterian Church.
JOHN W. BURTON
Non-Muslim Sudanese people.
The Shilluk are a linguistic group belonging to the Western Nilotic subgroup of the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family. They are concentrated along the west bank of the White Nile in southern Sudan. Because Shilluk political organization is centered around the king (reth), the Shilluk have experienced greater unity than other tribes in the region. Enjoying access to good agricultural land along the Nile, the Shilluk are more settled than other tribes and rely more on cultivation and fishing than on cattle raising. The Shilluk numbered about 150,000 persons according to the 1983 census.
Voll, John Obert. Historical Dictionary of the Sudan. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1978.


The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century. While there is no archaeological evidence for an indigenous people on the islands, a variety of settlers from various backgrounds made their home on the islands, including
, refugees from the
, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from
's army in
The first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on
around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was probably one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655.
took formal control
of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, as a result of the Treaty of Madrid of 1670
. Following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the
Governor of Jamaica
in 1734, came the perceived need for slaves.
Many were brought to the islands from Africa; this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being slaves. Slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 black slaves of African ancestry owned by 116 white families of English ancestry.
The Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten
, including HMS
, an incident that has since become known as the
Wreck of the Ten Sail
. The ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas.
Legend has it that King George III
rewarded the island with a promise never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity, as one of the ships carried a member of the King's own family. While this remains a popular legend, the story is not true.
On 11–12 September 2004 the island of
, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by
, creating an 8-ft
which flooded many areas of Grand Cayman. An estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged including 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind. Another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris.
Power, water and communications were disrupted for months in some areas, as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years.
Grand Cayman began a major rebuilding process and within two years, its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane status. Due to the tropical location of the islands, more hurricane or tropical systems have affected the Cayman Islands than any other region in the Atlantic basin; it has been brushed or directly hit, on average, every 2.23 years.
The Cayman Islands are in the western
and are the peaks of a massive underwater ridge, known as the Cayman Ridge (or Cayman Rise). This ridge flanks the Cayman Trough
, 6,000 m (20,000 ft) deep
which lies 6 km (3.7 mi) to the south.
The islands lie in the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, east of Quintana Roo
, Mexico and the
Mexico, south of Cuba and west of Jamaica. They are situated about 700 km (430 mi) south of Miami
750 km (470 mi) east of Mexico
366 km (227 mi) south of Cuba
and about 500 km (310 mi) northwest of Jamaica
is by far the biggest, with an area of 197 km2
(76 sq mi).
Grand Cayman's two "Sister Islands", Cayman Brac
and Little Cayman
, are about 120 km (75 mi) east north-east of Grand Cayman and have areas of 38 and 28.5 km2
(14.7 and 11.0 sq mi)
All three islands were formed by large
covering submerged ice age peaks of western extensions of the Cuban Sierra Maestra
range and are mostly flat. One notable exception to this is The Bluff
on Cayman Brac's eastern part, which rises to 43 m (141 ft) above sea level, the highest point on the islands.
Among other notable fauna is the endangered
, which is endemic to Grand Cayman.
On 11 and 12 September 2004,
struck the Cayman Islands. The storm resulted in two deaths, and caused great damage to the infrastructure on the islands. The total economic impact of the storms was estimated to be $3.4 billion.
The Cayman Islands have more registered businesses than people.
In mid-2011 the Cayman Islands had an estimated population of about 56,000, representing a mix of more than 100 nationalities. Out of that number, about half are of Caymanian descent. About 60% of the population is of mixed race (mostly mixed African-Caucasian). The islands are almost exclusively Christian, with large numbers of Presbyterians and Catholics. but also hosts Jewish,
Muslim and Hindu communities. The vast majority of the population resides on Grand Cayman
, followed by
and Little Cayman
The population is projected to rise to 60,000 by 2020.
The capital of the Cayman Islands is
, on the southwest coast of Grand Cayman.
According to the Cayman Islands 2010 census the estimated resident population is 54,878 people,
broken down as follows:
With an average income of around KYD$47,000, Caymanians have the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. According to the
CIA World Factbook
, the Cayman Islands GDP per capita is the 14th highest in the world.
The islands print their own currency, the Cayman Islands Dollar
(KYD), which is pegged to the US dollar
1.227 USD to 1 KYD. However, in many retail stores throughout the island, the KYD is typically traded at 1.25 USD.
On 15 July 2012 the Cayman Islands premier
announced the intended introduction of a "community enhancement fee" in the form of a payroll tax
to be paid solely by expatriate workers. Caymanians themselves were to remain exempt from this tax. This would have been the first direct tax on income in the Cayman Islands' history.
Bush also announced a five percent fee on "certain categories of employment" to be payable by businesses. However, the payroll tax was scrapped before it had been implemented.
's main attractions is
Seven Mile Beach
, site of a number of the island's hotels and resorts. Named one of the Ultimate Beaches by Caribbean Travel and Life, Seven Mile Beach is on the western shore of Grand Cayman Island. It is a public property and possible to walk the full length of the beach, past all the hotels, resorts, and public beach bars.
Historical sites in Grand Cayman, such as Pedro St James Castle in Savannah, also attract visitors.
Tourists also visit the Sister Islands, Little Cayman
and Cayman Brac.
All three islands offer
, and the Cayman Islands are home to several snorkelling locations, where tourists can swim with
. The most popular area to do this is
Stingray City, Grand Cayman
Stingray City is a top attraction in Grand Cayman and originally started in the 1980s, when divers started feeding squid to stingrays. The stingrays started to associate the sound of the boat motors with food, and thus visit this area year round.
There are two
off the shores of Cayman Brac, including the MV Captain Keith Tibbetts
Grand Cayman also has several shipwrecks off its shores, including one deliberate one. On 30 September 1994 the USS Kittiwake
was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register. In November 2008 her ownership was transferred for an undisclosed amount to the government of the Cayman Islands, which had decided to sink Kittiwake in June 2009 to form a new artificial reef off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman. Following several delays, the ship was finally scuttled according to plan on 5 January 2011. The Kittiwake has become a dynamic environment for marine life. While visitors are not allowed to take anything, there are endless sights. Each of the 5 decks of the ship offers squirrelfish, rare sponges, Goliath groupers, urchins, and more. Experienced and beginner divers are invited to swim around the Kittiwake.
Pirates Week, an annual 11 day November festival, was started in 1977 by Jim Bodden, then Minister of Tourism, to boost tourism during the country's tourism slow season.
Other Grand Cayman tourist attractions include the Ironshore landscape of
, the 23-acre (93,000 m2
) marine theme park Boatswain's Beach, also home of the Cayman Turtle Farm, the production of gourmet
, and the
, a hiking trail through the forests in the centre of the island. The National Trust for the Cayman Islands provides guided tours weekly on the Mastic Trail and other locations.
Another attraction to visit on Grand Cayman is the Observation Tower, located in Camana Bay. The Observation Tower is 75 feet tall and provides 360-degree views across Seven Mile Beach, George Town, the North Sound, and beyond. It is free to the public and climbing the tower has become a popular thing to do in the Cayman Islands.
Points of interest include the
East End Light
(sometimes called Gorling Bluff Light), a lighthouse at the east end of Grand Cayman island. The lighthouse is the centerpiece of East End Lighthouse Park, managed by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands
; the first navigational aid on the site was the first lighthouse in the Cayman Islands.
total is 123 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totalling 2,402,058 GRT/3,792,094 metric tons deadweight (DWT). The fleet includes 22 bulk carriers
liquefied gas transport
, 35 refrigerated cargo ships, 5
vessels and 1 specialised tanker. (Note: some foreign ships register in the Cayman Islands as a flag of convenience
. In 2002 ships from eleven countries took advantage of this option, including 15 from Greece, 5 from the United States, 5 from the United Kingdom, 2 from Cyprus, 2 from Denmark and 3 from Norway.)
The Cayman Islands are the fifth-largest banking centre in the world,
with $1.5 trillion in banking liabilities.
In June 2008 there were 279 banks, 19 of which were licensed to conduct banking activities with domestic (Cayman-based) and international clients, and the remaining 260 were licensed to operate on an international basis with only limited domestic activity. Financial services generated CI$1.2 billion of GDP in 2007 (55% of the total economy), 36% of all employment and 40% of all government revenue. In 2010, the country ranked fifth internationally in terms of value of liabilities booked and sixth in terms of assets booked. It has branches of 40 of the world's 50 largest banks. The Cayman Islands are the second largest captive domicile (Bermuda is largest) in the world with more than 700 captives, writing more than US$7.7 billion of premiums and with US$36.8 billion of assets under management.
Since the introduction of the
Law in 1993, which has been copied by jurisdictions around the world, the Cayman Islands have grown to be the world's leading offshore hedge fund jurisdiction.
In June 2008, it passed 10,000 hedge fund
registrations, and over the year ending June 2008 CIMA reported a net growth rate of 12% for hedge funds.
Starting in the mid-late 1990s,
offshore financial centres
, such as the Cayman Islands, came under increasing pressure from the
for their allegedly harmful tax regimes, where the OECD wished to prevent low-tax regimes from having an advantage in the global marketplace. The OECD threatened to place the Cayman Islands and other financial centres
on a "black list" and impose sanctions against them.
However, the Cayman Islands successfully avoided being placed on the OECD black list in 2000 by committing to regulatory reform to improve transparency and begin information exchange with OECD member countries about their citizens.
In 2004, under pressure from the
, the Cayman Islands agreed in principle to implement the
European Union Savings Directive
(EUSD), but only after securing some important benefits for the financial services industry in the Cayman Islands. As the Cayman Islands are not subject to EU
laws, the implementation of the EUSD is by way of bilateral agreements between each EU member state and the Cayman Islands. The government of the Cayman Islands agreed on a model agreement, which set out how the EUSD would be implemented with the Cayman Islands.
A report published by the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF), in March 2005, assessing supervision and regulation in the Cayman Islands' banking, insurance and securities industries, as well as its money laundering
regime, recognised the jurisdiction's comprehensive regulatory and compliance frameworks. "An extensive program of legislative, rule and guideline development has introduced an increasingly effective system of regulation, both formalizing earlier practices and introducing enhanced procedures", noted IMF assessors. The report further stated that "the supervisory system benefits from a well-developed banking infrastructure with an internationally experienced and qualified workforce as well as experienced lawyers, accountants and auditors", adding that, "the overall compliance culture within Cayman is very strong, including the compliance culture related to AML (anti-money laundering) obligations".
On 4 May 2009, the United States President,
, declared his intentions to curb the use of financial centres by multinational corporations. In his speech, he singled out the Cayman Islands as a tax shelter.
The next day, the Cayman Island Financial Services Association submitted an open letter to the president detailing the Cayman Islands' role in international finance and its value to the US financial system.
The Cayman Islands have small population and therefore a limited work force.
may therefore be granted to foreigners. On average, there have been more than 21,000 foreigners holding valid work permits.
To work in the Cayman Islands as a
, a work permit is required. This involves passing a police background check and a health check. A prospective immigrant worker will not be granted a permit unless certain medical conditions are present which include testing negative for
. A permit may be granted to individuals on special work.
A foreigner must first have a job to move to the Cayman Islands. The employer applies and pays for the work permit.
Work permits are not granted to foreigners who are in the Cayman Islands (unless it is a renewal). The Cayman Islands Immigration Department requires foreigners to remain out of the country until their work permit has been approved.
The Cayman Islands presently imposes a controversial "rollover" in relation to
workers who require a work permit. Non-Caymanians are only permitted to reside and work within the territory for a maximum of seven years unless they satisfy the criteria of key employees. Non-Caymanians who are 'rolled over' may return to work additional 7-year periods subject to a 1-year gap between their periods of work. The policy has been the subject of some controversy within the press. Law firms have been particularly upset by the recruitment difficulties that it has caused.
Other less well remunerated employment sectors have been affected as well. Concerns about safety have been expressed by diving instructors and realtors have also expressed concerns. Others support the rollover as necessary to protect Caymanian identity in the face of large immigration of expatriate workers.
Concerns have been expressed that in the long term, the policy may damage the preeminence of the Cayman Islands as an
offshore financial centre
by making it difficult to recruit and retain experienced staff from onshore financial centres. Government employees are no longer exempt from this "rollover" policy according to this report in a local newspaper.
The governor has used his constitutional powers, which give him absolute control for the disposition of civil service
employees to determine which expatriate civil servants are dismissed after seven years service and which are not.
This policy is incorporated in the Immigration Law (2003 revision), written by the United Democratic Party government, and subsequently enforced by the People's Progressive Movement Party government. Both governments agree to the term limits on foreign workers, and the majority of Caymanians also agree it is necessary to protect local culture and heritage from being eroded by a large number of foreigners gaining residency and citizenship.
is appointed by the Queen
of the United Kingdom on the advice of the British Government
to represent the monarch.
Governors can exercise complete legislative and executive authority if they wish through blanket powers reserved to them in the constitution.
Bills which have passed the Legislative Assembly
require Royal Assent
before becoming effective. The Constitution empowers the Governor to withhold Royal Assent
in cases where the legislation appears to him or her to be repugnant to or inconsistent with the Constitution or affects the rights and privileges of the Legislative Assembly or the Royal Prerogative, or matters reserved to the Governor by article 55.
The executive authority of the Cayman Islands is vested in the Queen
and is exercised by the Government, consisting of the Governor and the Cabinet.
There is an office of the Deputy Governor, who must be a Caymanian and have served in a senior public office. The Deputy Governor is the Acting Governor when the office of Governor is vacant, or the Governor is not able to discharge his duties or is absent from the Cayman Islands.
The current Governor of the Cayman Islands is Her Excellency
, and the current Deputy Governor is Franz Manderson,
The Cabinet is composed of two official members and seven elected members, called ministers; one of whom is designated
The official members are the
and the Attorney General
. They are appointed by the governor in accordance with Her Majesty's instructions, and although they have seats in the Legislative Assembly, under the 2009 Constitution, they do not vote.
The seven ministers are voted into office by the 18 elected members of the
Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands
. One of the ministers, the leader of the majority political party, is appointed premier by the governor.
After consulting the premier, the governor allocates a portfolio of responsibilities to each Cabinet member. Under the principle of collective responsibility, all ministers are obliged to support in the Assembly any measures approved by Cabinet.
Almost 80 departments, sections and units carry out the business of government, joined by a number of statutory boards and authorities set up for specific purposes, such as the Port Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Immigration Board, the Water Authority, the University College Board of Governors, the National Pensions Board and the Health Insurance Commission.
The defence of the Cayman Islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. Law enforcement in the country is provided chiefly by the
Royal Cayman Islands Police Service
and the Cayman Islands Customs Department. These two agencies co-operate in aspects of law enforcement, including their joint marine unit
Cayman Islands Cadet Corps
was formed in March 2001 and carries out military-type training with teenage citizens of the country.
No direct taxation is imposed on residents and Cayman Islands companies. The government receives the majority of its income from indirect taxation. Duty is levied against most imported goods, which is typically in the range of 22% to 25%. Some items are exempted, such as baby formula, books, cameras and certain items are taxed at 5%. Duty on automobiles depends on their value. The duty can amount to 29.5% up to $20,000.00 KYD CIF (cost, insurance and freight) and up to 42% over $30,000.00 KYD CIF for expensive models. The government charges flat licensing fees on financial institutions that operate in the islands and there are work permit fees on foreign labour. A 13% government tax is placed on all tourist accommodations in addition to US$25.00 airport departure tax which is built into the cost of an airline ticket.
There are no taxes on corporate profits, capital gains, or personal income. There are no estate or death inheritance taxes payable on Cayman Islands real estate or other assets held in the Cayman Islands.
Foreign policy is controlled by the United Kingdom, as the islands remain an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Although in its early days, the Cayman Islands' most important relationships were with Britain and
, in recent years, as a result of economic dependence, a relationship with the
Though the Cayman Islands are involved in no major international disputes, they have come under some criticism due to the use of their territory for narcotics trafficking and
. In an attempt to address this, the government entered into the Narcotics Agreement of 1984 and the
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty
of 1986 with the United States, to reduce the use of their facilities associated with these activities. In more recent years, they have stepped up the fight against money laundering, by limiting banking secrecy, introducing requirements for customer identification and record keeping, and requiring banks to co-operate with foreign investigators.
Due to their status as an overseas territory of the UK, the Cayman Islands have no representation either in the
or in most other international organisations. However, the Cayman Islands still participates in some international organisations, being an associate member of Caricom
, and a member of a sub-bureau of
The defence and internal security of the Cayman Islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
George Town is the port capital of Grand Cayman. There are no berthing facilities for cruise ships, but up to 4 cruise ships can anchor in designated anchorages. There are three cruise terminals in George Town, the North, South, and Royal Water Terminals. The ride from the ship to the terminal is about 5 minutes.
Cayman Islands Education Department
operates state schools. Caymanian children are entitled to free primary and secondary education. Various churches and private foundations operate several private schools, including the Cayman International School (CIS) located in Camana Bay.
The Cayman Islands Civil Service College
, a unit of Cayman Islands government organised under the Portfolio of the Civil Service, is in Grand Cayman. Co-situated with University College of the Cayman Islands, it offers both degree programs and continuing education units of various sorts. The college opened in 2007 and is also used as a government research centre.
There are three hospitals in the Cayman Islands. Grand Cayman is home to the private Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital and the public Cayman Islands Hospital (commonly known as the George Town Hospital); Faith Hospital is on Cayman Brac.
In 2007, a
magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) unit was installed at the Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital, replacing the one destroyed by Hurricane Ivan
in 2004. In 2009, a stand-alone open MRI facility was opened. This centre provides MRI, CT, X-Ray and DEXA
(Bone density) scanning. Also housed in this building is the Heart Health Centre, which provides ultrasound, nuclear medicine, echocardiography and cardiac stress testing
For divers and others in need of
hyperbaric oxygen therapy
, there is a two-person
at the Cayman Islands Hospital on Grand Cayman, run by Cayman Hyperbaric Services. Hyperbaric Services has also built a hyperbaric unit at Faith Hospital in Cayman Brac.
In 2003, the Cayman Islands became the first country in the world to mandate health insurance for all residents.
The Cayman Islands Fire Service provides fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue.
Department headquarters are in George Town and has substations in Frank Sound, West Bay, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.
Emergency Medical Services are provided by paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians using ambulances based in George Town, West Bay and North Side in Grand Cayman and in Cayman Brac. EMS is managed by the Government's Health Services Authority.
Access to Emergency Services is available using 9-1-1, the
Emergency telephone number
, the same number as is used in
and the United States. The Cayman Islands Department of Public Safety's Communications Centre processes 9-1-1 and non-emergency law enforcement, EMS, fire, and Search and Rescue
calls for all three islands. The Communications Centre dispatches RCIP and EMS units directly however, the Cayman Islands Fire Service maintains their own dispatch room at the airport fire station.
Truman Bodden Sports Complex
is a multi-use complex in George Town. The complex is separated into an outdoor, six-lane 25-metre (82 ft) swimming pool, full purpose track and field and basketball/netball courts. The field surrounded by the track is used for association football
matches as well as other field sports. The track stadium holds 3,000 people.
Squash is popular in the Cayman Islands with a vibrant community of mostly ex-pats playing out of the 7 court South Sound Squash Club. In addition, the women's professional squash association hosts one of their major events each year in an all glass court being set up in Camana Bay. In December 2012, the former Cayman Open will be replaced by the Women's World Championships, the largest tournament in the world. The top Cayman men's player, Cameron Stafford is No. 2 in the Caribbean and ranked top 200 on the men's professional circuit.
In the 21st century, skateboarding has become popular among the youth.
In February 2010, the first purpose built track for
in the Cayman Islands was opened.
Corporate karting Leagues at the track have involved widespread participation with 20 local companies and 227 drivers taking part in the 2010 Summer Corporate Karting League.
Cayman National Cultural Foundation
manages the F.J. Harquail Cultural Centre and the US$4 million Harquail Theatre. The Cayman National Cultural Foundation, established in 1984, helps to preserve and promote Cayman folk music, including the organisation of festivals such as Cayman Islands International Storytelling Festival, the Cayman JazzFest, Seafarers Festival and Cayfest.
There are two print newspapers currently in circulation throughout the islands: the Caymanian Compass and Cayman Net News. The primary online news services are Cayman News Service and the Cayman Compass online edition. A local television station, CITN – Cayman 27, shows Cayman Islands news.
Local radio stations
are broadcast throughout the islands.
Feature films that have been filmed in the Cayman Islands include:
and Zombie Driftwood
- Jeffrey Webb,
President and FIFA
- Gladwyn K. Bush, Folk artist.
- McKeeva Bush, Politician.
- Selita Ebanks, Fashion model.
- Kenneth Dart, Businessman.
- Frank E. Flowers, Filmmaker, director and screenwriter.
- Ronald Forbes, Olympic athlete.
- Brett Fraser, Olympic athlete.
- Shaune Fraser, Olympic athlete.
- Jason Gilbert, record producer and songwriter.
- Tigerlily Hill, fashion designer and celebrity wardrobe stylist.
- Kemar Hyman, Olympic athlete.
- Edison Mclean, First Caymanian gold medalist in Olympic Skeet, Island Games.
- Cydonie Mothersille, track and field gold-medal athlete and Olympian.
- Bernard K. Passman, Jeweller, founded his business on Grand Cayman in 1975.
- Lee Ramoon, footballer.
- Kareem Streete-Thompson, Olympic athlete.
- Kurt Tibbetts, politician.
- Tanya Streeter, free-diver.
- Dow Travers, Olympic athlete.
- Grace Gealey, Actor.
Vassel Johnson,KT,OBE,CBE, Army Veteran
Cayman Islands Home Guard
WW2, Fmr Financial Secretary, Fmr Minister for Development and Natural Resources.
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"Parker's eased into top gear", Caymanian Compass, 24 September 2010.
Cayman Went at imdb.com
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Alexander entered Egypt late in 332, facing no opposition from the inhabitants or from the Persian satrap Mazaces, who had too few soldiers to attempt any resistance. This was the first of the major Near Eastern kingdoms to come under his control, with a system of government that had its roots in over two-and-a-half millennia of Pharaonic rule. The popular image of Egypt as an unchanging civilization should not, however, be exaggerated: the centuries before Alexander’s arrival had seen many changes of rule since the end of the imperial period of the Late Bronze Age New Kingdom. The end of the New Kingdom had been followed by four centuries of the ‘Third Intermediate Period’ (1069–664), when the kingdom had been disunited and ultimately conquered by the Assyrians. Following that, Dynasty XXVI (664–525) had ruled Egypt until the Persian invasion under Cambyses, which had led to 120 years of Achaemenid rule. Egypt broke away from the Persian empire in 404, but was reconquered sixty years later, only twelve years before Alexander’s arrival. The conflicts which led to these transfers of power left their mark on Egyptian society. Nonetheless rulers would adopt the practices and forms of representation used by their successful predecessors, as they attempted to confirm their authority, and so maintain the appearance of continuity.
For the surviving Alexander historians two events are of crucial importance in Alexander’s time in Egypt: the foundation of the city of Alexandria and the visit to the oracle of Amun at Siwa. Arrian introduces his accounts of both these episodes saying that Alexander was seized by pothos, that is, overwhelming desire: these are actions driven by his own personal emotions rather than from any practical considerations. This interpretation has been largely followed in recent scholarship. The ancient writers disagree about the relative chronology of the two events, and this may add to a suspicion that one of them, the story of the foundation of Alexandria, is not all that it seems.
In the period of the Roman empire Alexandria, on the Egyptian coast at the western edge of the Nile Delta, was one of the most important cities in the world. Already by the end of the 3rd century BCE it had grown through trade to become the largest city in the world, and in antiquity only Rome ever grew larger. It was a great centre of trade and a crucial point of contact between the Mediterranean world and the East. The Library at Alexandria gathered together all of Greek literature, and became a centre of science and scholarship. It was at Alexandria, about a century after the death of Alexander, that the first calculations of the circumference of the earth were made; the Jewish Bible was also translated into Greek there in the 3rd century, and it was mainly through this translation, known as the Septuagint, that the Hebrew biblical texts were known to early Christian writers.
All the ancient Alexander historians emphasize Alexander’s personal involvement in the construction of Alexandria, suggesting that he determined where it would be built (after receiving advice in a dream, according to Plutarch) and how the walls and the major public buildings would be laid out. They also all provide versions of a prophetic story about the foundation. They say that the outline of the city was marked out using barley grains (either because this was the normal Macedonian practice, or because no chalk was available); and then, according to some versions, birds flocked down and ate the barley. The use of barley was interpreted to mean that the city was destined to grow rich from the fruits of the earth, but in the versions involving the birds, their arrival was taken to predict the fact that people would come to Alexandria from far and wide to settle. How much, if anything, of these accounts can be trusted? The answer is that possibly none of it can be.
After Alexander’s death his body was sent west from Babylon for burial in Macedonia. En route it was captured by Ptolemy and brought to Egypt, where it was entombed in Memphis, not Alexandria. Memphis remained the administrative centre of Egypt under Ptolemy, who had taken control of Egypt as satrap on Alexander’s death, until at least 311. In a document he composed in that year, known as the ‘Satrap Stele’ written in Egyptian, Ptolemy states that he moved to ‘the Fortress of King Alexander, formerly known as Rakotis, on the shore of the Greek sea’. This event, 12 years after Alexander’s death, and 20 years after he left Egypt, may mark the real beginning of Alexandria. Ptolemy proclaimed himself king in 304, and it is probably only after that point that the city began to become a major cultural centre. Its most famous buildings, the library and museum, are usually associated with Ptolemy’s son and successor Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283–246). It is not clear from the text of the Satrap Stele whether the site was named ‘the Fortress of King Alexander’ before Ptolemy I moved there or whether it still had the Egyptian name Rakotis. Archaeology has provided little information about the earliest history of the site, since the ancient city is buried beneath the modern city and the sea, although excavation is ongoing, and something may emerge in the future. At the moment there is little contemporary evidence to support the idea that Alexander himself was responsible for much of what was to become the most important city to bear his name.
As his campaign took him into eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and beyond, Alexander did start to create settlements, usually named Alexandria, including what is now Kandahar in Afghanistan. Plutarch, in his essay ‘On the Virtue and Fortune of Alexander the Great’, suggests that Alexander founded more than 70 cities, and claimed that his purpose in doing so was to spread Greek culture and learning among the ‘barbarians’. The number is probably an exaggeration, but at least 20 settlements named Alexandria are known from inscriptions and written accounts. Not all of these have been securely located, and some, like Alexandria Troas near Troy, previously named Antigonia Troas after its founder Antigonus the One-Eyed, were given their name by later rulers. Some were refoundations of previously existing settlements, and others were new creations. Excavations at Ai-Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan, which is thought to be the site of Alexandria-on-the-Oxus, have revealed a Greek theatre and temples, built some decades after Alexander’s time, but Plutarch’s idea that his foundations were intended as cultural centres is unrealistic. These settlements were mostly little more than fortresses, occupied by veteran Macedonian soldiers prepared to start a new life in Asia, supported perhaps by local inhabitants brought in from surrounding villages. These were not intended to be major commercial centres but points of control in regions where there was a danger of insurrection. When compared with all the other Alexandrias, the idea of Alexander deliberately created a new commercial city in Egypt seems out of place. It is possible that he might have wanted to leave a garrison fort there, and that this is what Ptolemy is referring to in the Satrap Stele, but the site of Alexandria is not an obvious one for a military settlement.
The stories of the omens surrounding the foundation of the city are above all reflections of its future success: the greater the fortune of the city, the more incentive there was to associate it with Alexander himself. Three of the early histories of Alexander had their origins in the city: Ptolemy, whose history is the main source for Arrian, Cleitarchus, whose work lies behind Diodorus and Curtius, and the so-called Alexander Romance, the fanciful popularizing account of Alexander’s career that is known from versions from the 3rd century CE and afterwards, but which had its origins in the 3rd century BCE. Ptolemy in particular associated himself with Alexander, as we have seen, putting Alexander’s head on his coins, and to credit Alexander with the founding of his royal city would assist him in this. Other authors would have no reason not to promulgate a version of the facts that raised the status of their own city. Older Greek cities claimed mythical heroes as their founders, and Alexander the Great was a hero worth claiming as founder by the Alexandrians, but the stories that Alexander did personally found the city belong more to legend than to history.
The oracle of Amun
The Egyptian episode that receives the most attention in the surviving histories is Alexander’s visit to the temple of Amun in the Siwa oasis in the Libyan desert. In addition to the accounts in Diodorus, Curtius, Plutarch, Arrian, and Justin, we have much of what Alexander’s court historian Callisthenes wrote, as reported by the geographer Strabo, who wrote under the emperor Augustus, that is, a little later than Diodorus. Modern scholars have followed the ancient sources in seeing Alexander’s encounter with the oracle as a turning point in his understanding of himself. As with other cases of Alexander’s involvement with religion, however, the evidence is complex and confused.
The principal temple at Siwa was built in the reign of the pharaoh Amasis (570–526) for the god Amun, whose main centre of cult was at Thebes. At Thebes the oracle of Amun functioned in the traditional way of Egyptian oracles. At major festivals the image of the god would be carried in procession in his sacred boat, on the shoulders of eight priests. Those who wished to consult the god could ask their question as the god approached. If the god ‘nodded’ to them, that is if the cult image swayed towards them as it was being carried along, this would be taken as a positive answer, but if it swayed away from the enquirer it would indicate a negative response. Another method of questioning would be to place two alternative written statements along the path the god was travelling, and whichever of the two the god swayed towards would be taken to represent his decision. At Siwa the oracle operated in the same way. When Alexander visited the sanctuary the processional way led from the principal temple to a second smaller temple, built by Nectanebo II, and it was along this route that the cult image would have been carried. Since the oracle was in existence before the time of Nectanebo, his temple must have been constructed to increase the monumentality of the existing processional route.
From the time of the creation of the temple under Amasis, Siwa was visited by sacred ambassadors (theoroi) from the Greek city of Cyrene (near modern Benghazi), and Amun received cult in Cyrene under the name of Ammon or Zeus Ammon. He was depicted as a man with ram’s horns, reflecting the Egyptian practice of representing Amun with a ram’s head. Herodotus reports a consultation of the oracle by the Lydian king Croesus, which, if the report is accurate, would have taken place early in its history. Ammon was recognized in the Aegean in the 5th century, and in the early 4th century inscriptions indicate that the Athenians sent theoroi to the temple. But while the temple had some prestige in the Greek world, it was very much on the edge of Egyptian territory, and had far less prestige than Amun’s much older temples in upper Egypt. It is unlikely therefore that Alexander visited it to impress the Egyptians, and the ancient writers do not describe the visit in those terms. It would make more sense to link Alexander’s visit with his interest in establishing his authority over the Greek cities of Cyrenaica, which had come under Persian control in the time of Darius I, but had been left free from external control after the revolt of Egypt in 404.
Callisthenes claims that Alexander wanted to visit the oracle in emulation of his ancestors Perseus and Heracles, although there is no suggestion in earlier writers that these heroes did go to Siwa. Herodotus, who visited the oracle himself, and who tells stories ofHeracles’ adventures in Egypt, tells how the hero went to visit the temple of his father Zeus at Thebes, and how Zeus, in order to prevent Heracles from seeing him as he was, wore a ram’s head as disguise. But he says nothing about Heracles going to Siwa. Arrian, whose whole account appears based on Callisthenes (possibly by way of Ptolemy’s history), gives the same explanation, but adds that Alexander wanted to find out about his genesis, that is his birth or his origins. Neither Callisthenes nor Arrian says what it was that Alexander asked the god. Of the other narratives only Justin offers an explanation of why he wanted to consult the oracle, elaborating the story that he wanted to know about his birth, but all four other authors do give a fuller account of Alexander’s conversation with the priest—even if not a reliable one.
Ancient historians are often vague about the role of translators in encounters between foreigners. When Alexander visited Siwa it is unclear in what languages the various parties spoke. Plutarch, who several times in his Life of Alexander identifies linguistic jokes and puns, presents the Egyptian officials as speaking Greek, but doing so poorly: he suggests that the priest of Amun may accidentally have addressed Alexander as Pai Dios (Son of Zeus), because he was trying to say paidion (child). It would be, for Plutarch, a clever accidental omen, but none of the other writers describes the events in this way. They give the impression that all communication was direct, and could be interpreted in straightforward Greek terms. It is unlikely that Alexander understood Egyptian. It is possible that the priest of Amun understood Greek, since there was an established pattern of Greeks visiting the oracle. However, it is certain that Alexander will have been accompanied by interpreters, so that he will have known precisely what was being said. It is also likely that he will have been recognized as Pharaoh, or at least as the man soon to be crowned as Pharaoh, and therefore addressed with the formality that his office required.
This is significant because the ancient writers claim that when he first arrived at Siwa the priest of Amun addressed Alexander as son of the god (Diodorus), or specifically of Zeus (Callisthenes and Plutarch), Jupiter (Curtius), or Hammon (Justin). According to Diodorus, Curtius, and Justin, Alexander responded to this by saying that he would from this point on call himself by this title—suggesting that this was the beginning of a process that would end up by alienating Alexander from his men, because he was denying that Philip was his father. As we will see, however, Alexander’s titles in Egypt, following Egyptian tradition, included the name ‘Son of Re’; for him to be addressed as such by an Egyptian (or Libyan) priest will have been protocol, not revelation.
The more elaborate descriptions of Alexander’s visit are generally thought to derive from the work of Cleitarchus, who was not an eyewitness to the visit, but, writing in Egypt, did understand how Egyptian oracles functioned: we are given slightly confused, but essentially authentic, descriptions of the statue being carried in its boat on the shoulders of the priests. But stories about the consultation of oracles in ancient historical narratives tend to conform to certain patterns, and the readers of the Alexander historians will have expected a spoken exchange between enquirer and priest, as was the pattern at the most famous Greek oracle, Delphi (although Delphi was notorious for the obscurity of its responses). The consultation of an oracle that responded solely by the movements of a statue would have been less easy to dramatize. As a result we are given a story that is not compatible with what we know about how Egyptian oracles functioned. Some scholars, including the excavators at Siwa, have attempted to reconcile the accounts by postulating a separate ‘Royal Oracle’ that was closer to the Greek model, but this is not compelling, and it makes more sense to allow the historians some dramatic licence in their retelling. These writers claim that Alexander asked two questions: whether his father’s murderers had been punished and whether he would rule the world. The first of these seems designed in these accounts to reinforce the notion that Alexander had accepted divine paternity, as the oracle is said to have responded that his father could not be harmed by mortals (but that Philip’s killers had been avenged). The second question received a positive response, and we will consider the implications of this later.
Stories about the consultation of oracles are common in Greek literature. The oracle of Delphi plays a major role in Herodotus’ History, the first work of history to be written and one of the most influential. Oracular consultations feature prominently in many of Plutarch’s Lives, and he wrote a series of essays about Greek oracles. It is therefore not surprising that the expedition to the oracle at Siwa is given a lot of attention in the narratives of the Greek and Roman Alexander historians. It demonstrated the involvement of the gods in Alexander’s achievements, and revealed his greatness through the responses that the oracle gave. These confirmations of the nature of Alexander were important for the readers of those narratives, but the Egyptians themselves had other ways of making clear Alexander’s significance and his relationship with the gods, above all by recognizing him as Pharaoh.
If we read the Greek and Roman histories with an understanding of what the Egyptians would have wanted from a new ruler, we can see that Alexander was able to live up to their expectations. Memphis, at the apex of the Nile Delta, the royal centre of Lower Egypt, was the administrative centre of Egypt in this period, and that is where Alexander went first. The normal rituals associated with the accession of a new pharaoh would start with the ceremonial proclamation of his royal names, and this would be followed by the pharaoh-to-be travelling to the major temples of the kingdom on a royal barge, a journey known as ‘The Creation of Order in all Provinces’. All the kingdom’s officials would be expected to renew their oaths of office, and foreign allies to renew their alliances at this time. The process ended with the coronation itself in Memphis, which would ideally take place at the time of the Egyptian New Year festival in June. None of the surviving authors actually describes Alexander’s coronation, but they do refer to the occasions when the various rituals would have taken place. Arrian mentions two festivals at Memphis, one on Alexander’s arrival and one shortly before his departure. Curtius says that from Memphis Alexander travelled up-river, presumably by boat, and he also reports a tragic incident when a young Macedonian noble drowned after the boat he was in capsized while it was attempting to catch up with Alexander. Arrian also describes Alexander receiving embassies and distributing offices while he was at Memphis before his departure.
The reluctance of the Greek and Roman authors to mention an actual coronation is significant. The same reluctance occurs in their accounts of Alexander’s time in Babylon, where it is certain that he was enthroned as king, and at Susa, where it is highly likely. In part this may be a result of the authors’ chosen narrative structure. They all, to a greater or lesser extent, present Alexander as being gradually corrupted by contact with the ‘East’: he is depicted as becoming increasingly interested in ‘barbarian’ practices and losing control over himself. This is a theme that we will consider elsewhere, but it is a storyline that would be weakened if Alexander were seen to be adopting the practices of the peoples he conquered too early in the journey.
Egypt had many temples, and work on restoring or extending them was one of the activities expected of a pharaoh. Two of the last native Egyptian rulers, Nectanebo I (380–362) and Nectanebo II (360–343), had been energetic in their building works, and it is likely that a number of works had been started by Nectanebo II but left unfinished when the Persians regained control of Egypt after its period of independence from them (404–343). Egyptian evidence indicates that Alexander was ready to follow in the tradition of temple-restoration.
At the great temple of Amun-Re at Luxor, near the ancient royal city of Upper Egypt, Thebes, Alexander is depicted on the walls of the ‘chapel of the barque’, which he is credited with restoring. In a sequence of reliefs in the traditional Egyptian style, Alexander is depicted dressed as pharaoh, facing the god Amun-Re. The accompanying texts identify him as ‘King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, Setepenre Meryamun (Beloved of Amun, Chosen of Re), son of Re, possessor of the crowns, Alexander’ (Figure 5). This is the standard form of address for a pharaoh, and the inscribed texts note that he has carried out the work for his father Amun-Re. The ‘chapel of the barque’ would have contained the cult image of the god, standing in a ceremonial boat. At major festivals the image would have been carried by the temple priests in procession in the boat. In the other great temple of Amun, nearby at Karnak, an inscription announces that Alexander had renovated the chapel of Tuthmosis III (Pharaoh 1475–1429) and once again Alexander is given his full pharaonic titles. Further downriver, at Hermopolis, inscriptions record further restoration work by Alexander. The picture we get from Egyptian monuments is of Alexander following in the footsteps of his predecessors, a picture significantly different, as we have seen, from that presented by the Greek and Roman accounts of his time in Egypt.
5. Alexander the Great (on the right) depicted as pharaoh in the temple of Amenhotep III at Luxor