Qamata, noun

Forms:
Qamatha, QhamataShow more Also Qamatha, Qhamata, uQamata, uQamatha.
Origin:
IsiXhosa, KhoikhoiShow more IsiXhosa uQamata, perhaps from an unrecorded Khoikhoi word.
Especially among isiXhosa-speakers: Tixo.
1880 Cape Monthly Mag. III. 294We considered that Qamata was the great spirit,..as he, in our opinion, made the chiefs.
1905 W.H. Tooke in Flint & Gilchrist Science in S. Afr. 88Their (sc. the Xhosas’) word for God is Unkulunkulu, denoting the first man or progenitor; also Uhlanga and Itongo, the Great spirit. He is an ancestral deity from whom all men trace their origin. Other terms for God are Tixo and Qamata, the former certainly, the latter probably of Hottentot derivation.
1908 I.W. Wauchope Natives & their Missionaries 21The missionary..came there suddenly and told them of the Qamata, whom they did not know although they used his name when they sneezed, and said ‘Qamata, keep us, protect us and save us from the Amagqwira’.
1918 H. Moore Land of Good Hope 117Tixo bears other names, as Qamata, or Molimo.
1925 D. Kidd Essential Kafir 101They never seem to offer any sacrifices to him, for they do not know his praise names; yet sometimes when they sneeze they will say ‘Qamata, help me.’
1939 N.J. Van Warmelo in A.M. Duggan-Cronin Bantu Tribes III. i. 16The Nguni have a form of ancestor-worship as their common religion, while a belief in the existence of a Superior or supreme deity, called ‘Unkulunkulu’ by the Zulu and ‘u Qamatha’ by the Xhosa, exists side by side with it.
1978 Bona Oct. 81Chief Sebe..is..a strong believer in the ancient traditions and customs of his people...The Xhosa have always spoken of ‘uQamata’, the God above, the Uvoko, or the re-awakening.
1982 Pace Oct. 37The Africans believed in one God. The Xhosa called Him Qamata, the Arabs called him Allah, the Zulu called Him Mvelinqangi.
1992 V. Mayekiso in Focus on Afr. Vol.3 No.2, 52‘Qamata’ is the supreme being whom even the probing thoughts of man dare not defile...Man’s knowledge is limited to the knowledge that ‘Qamata’ is the Protector, the Giver of blessings, and the Receiver of offerings.
Especially among isiXhosa-speakers: Tixo.
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