The Sacred Drum of the Luba Realm
According to Luba tradition, the first sacred drum was given to the people by the spirit of the forest. It was said to have the voice of the ancestors, and its beat could be heard across the entire kingdom. The drum contained the soul of the Luba nation — as long as it beat, the kingdom would endure. The Luba kings (mulopwe) kept the sacred drum in a special house guarded by initiated priests. The drum was played only during coronations, royal funerals, and times of great crisis. Its rhythm was a coded language that announced the king's health, the coming of war, or the death of a ruler. When