The Western Karo Batak's Lost Creation Myth
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Product Details
Author:
Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller
Format:
Paperback
Pages:
110
Publisher:
Brill (December 17, 2014)
Imprint:
Brill
Language:
English
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13:
9789004288188
ISBN-10:
900428818X
Weight:
14.4oz
File:
TWO RIVERS-PERSEUS-Metadata_Only_Perseus_Distribution_Customer_Group_Metadata_20260319172121-20260320.xml
Folder:
TWO RIVERS
List Price:
$76.00
Country of Origin:
Netherlands
As low as:
$58.52
Publisher Identifier:
P-PER
Discount Code:
A
Overview
Unlike the Toba Batak, their more populous and powerful neighbours in northern Sumatra, the western Karo Batak today claim they have no creation myth. Yet certain clues point to shared cosmogony among several Batak groups, now reinforced by Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller’s discovery of a very old traditional house among the western Karo. The symbolic decoration of the house eliminates all doubt: the western Karo once viewed the cosmos as divided into three worlds – Upper, Middle and Lower. The giant dragon who lived in the Lower World carried the Middle World (where humans reside) on its back, while the Upper World was the abode of a supreme deity accompanied by his sons, spirits and the souls of human ancestors who had been rich and powerful.
