Neiterkob
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Neiterkob (also Neiterkǒb or Neiterǔkŏb) is a figure from the mythology of the Maa-speaking communities, most notably the Maasai in the present day. He is perceived as having a superior intelligence and as having the ability to intercede with Engai or Enkai (supreme being in Maa mythology) on behalf of man.[1]
Neiterkob means "that which began the earth". It may also be a reference to Enkai.[2]
Overview
The earliest written account of Neiterkob comes from Krapf's account of the Kwavi people, a Maa-speaking community that disintegrated under Maasai attack in the 1850s.
At the remotest antiquity there was one man resident on Oldoinio eibor (white mountain) who was superior to any human being, and whom the Engai (heaven, supreme being, god) had placed on the mountain. This strange personage, whose beginning and end is quite mysterious and whose whole appearance impresses the Wakuafi mind with the idea of a demi-god, is called Neiterkǒb (or Neiterǔkŏb)...
— Ludwig Krapf, 1854[1]
Krapf states further on that "regarding Oldoinio eibor it is necessary to remark that by this term is meant the Kirénia or Endurkenia, or simply Kenia, as the Wakamba call it..."[1]