Acholi beer jar
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1939.7.61
Country:
Uganda
Cultural Group:
Koich Acholi
Date Made:
By 1939
Materials:
Pottery
Process:
Handbuilt , Fire-Hardened , Decorated , Incised , Impressed , Burnished
Dimensions:
Ht = 262; diam mouth ext. = 106.5 x 102, diam mouth int. = 98 x 94; max diam body = 273; base diam = 105; th lower walls = 7 mm [RTS 20/9/2005].
Weight:
> 1000 g
Other Owners:
Armine Charles Almroth Wright
Field Collector:
?Armine Charles Almroth Wright
PRM Source:
Armine Charles Almroth Wright
Acquired:
Donated July 1939
Collected Date:
By 1939
Description:
Ceramic jar, hand made from a moderately well levigated fabric with a few stone inclusions, fired gray at core and reddish brown at margins, covered with a burnished red slip over the exterior and rim interior (Pantone 499C) with some mottled areas.
The vessel has four individual mouths, each with an everted, rounded rim on a short concave neck; they have been modelled separately, but two are joined along one edge of the rim.
These open out into the body of the vessel, which is globular and has a low disc base.
The lower part of the shoulder is decorated with a zigzag band of impressed rouletted decoration, framed by an incised border at top and bottom.
A similar incised line runs around the circumference below, then the lower body is covered with vertical zigzags of a similar impressed design, somewhat smeared and rubbed in places, with slurry marks around the edge of the base.
The jar is incomplete, and has been broken and mended from several fragments, with parts of the rim and lower body on one side missing.
The interior is coated with a thick white layer, perhaps representing traces of the former contents.
There are also white marks over the exterior and signs of an earlier, non-museum repair.
It has a weight in excess of 1000 grams, and is 262 mm high; a single mouth has an external diameter of 106.5 by 102 mm and internal opening of 98 by 94 mm; the maximum width of the vessel is 273 mm, the base has a diameter of 105 mm, and the lower walls are 7 mm thick.
Collected by Armine Charles Almroth Wright in Northern Uganda and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in July 1939.
This was a ritual vessel, used by the Koich clan of the Acholi for celebrating the ceremony of jok lubanga , where an affliction of tuberculosis of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim. Drugged beer was drunk out this vessel at the time of the killing, and at an annual ceremony afterwards.
Lienhardt discusses the term Jok, often transcribed as jwok or juok, which he says is a widespread word amongst Nilotic groups, including the Acholi, often translated as 'God' or 'Spirit'. The Acholi also have a term, Rubanga, which is presumably the same as Lubanga, that is used for the 'supreme being'; the word is not a Nilotic one, and seems to be coming to them under Christian and Bantu influence from the south (G. Lienhardt, 1997, 'High Gods' Among Some Nilotic Peoples, JASO 28.1 , pp 42-43). See also: R. Boccassino, 1939, "The Nature and Characteristics of the Supreme Being Worshipped among the Acholi of Uganda", Uganda Journal VI no. 4, pp 195-210; and J.P. Crazzolara, 1940, "Renato Boccassino and Lubanga Jok", quoted in A.C.A. Wright, 1940, "The Supreme Being among the Acholi of Uganda: Another Viewpoint", Uganda Journal VII no. 3, pp 130-137. The affliction of tuberculosis of the spine was probably seen as a manifestation of jok; the solution represented by the ceremony and use of this vessel seems non-Nilotic in character, and as the example from the Ganda suggests, may also represent southern influence on the Acholi.
Compare this vessel with a five-mouthed jar from the Bagishu people in Uganda, used by elders for beer drinking in conjunction with drinking straws, or a three-mouthed example from the Ganda of Uganda, supposedly used for administering 'treated' beer to those about to be immolated to the gods (N. Barley, 1994, Smashing Pots, p. 30 and p. 90).
Rachael Sparks & Jeremy Coote 20/9/2005.
Collected by Armine Charles Almroth Wright in Northern Uganda and donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in July 1939.
This was a ritual vessel, used by the Koich clan of the Acholi for celebrating the ceremony of jok lubanga , where an affliction of tuberculosis of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim. Drugged beer was drunk out this vessel at the time of the killing, and at an annual ceremony afterwards.
Lienhardt discusses the term Jok, often transcribed as jwok or juok, which he says is a widespread word amongst Nilotic groups, including the Acholi, often translated as 'God' or 'Spirit'. The Acholi also have a term, Rubanga, which is presumably the same as Lubanga, that is used for the 'supreme being'; the word is not a Nilotic one, and seems to be coming to them under Christian and Bantu influence from the south (G. Lienhardt, 1997, 'High Gods' Among Some Nilotic Peoples, JASO 28.1 , pp 42-43). See also: R. Boccassino, 1939, "The Nature and Characteristics of the Supreme Being Worshipped among the Acholi of Uganda", Uganda Journal VI no. 4, pp 195-210; and J.P. Crazzolara, 1940, "Renato Boccassino and Lubanga Jok", quoted in A.C.A. Wright, 1940, "The Supreme Being among the Acholi of Uganda: Another Viewpoint", Uganda Journal VII no. 3, pp 130-137. The affliction of tuberculosis of the spine was probably seen as a manifestation of jok; the solution represented by the ceremony and use of this vessel seems non-Nilotic in character, and as the example from the Ganda suggests, may also represent southern influence on the Acholi.
Compare this vessel with a five-mouthed jar from the Bagishu people in Uganda, used by elders for beer drinking in conjunction with drinking straws, or a three-mouthed example from the Ganda of Uganda, supposedly used for administering 'treated' beer to those about to be immolated to the gods (N. Barley, 1994, Smashing Pots, p. 30 and p. 90).
Rachael Sparks & Jeremy Coote 20/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
244] -
A.C.A.
WRIGHT
, ESQ., ...
Granville Park, S.E.13.
[p.
260] July 1939.7.61 - Four-mouthed sacred pot, used for celebration of ceremony of ‘Jok lubanga’ - an affliction of tuberculosis of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim.
Ceremonial drugged beer was drunk out of this pot, at the time of the killing and at an annual ceremony after.
KOICH clan, ACHOLILAND, UGANDA.
Card Catalogue Entry - Information as for the accession book, except that the ceremony is erroneously called 'Tok lubanga', not 'Jok lubanga' [RTS 30/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - 4 mouthed [insert] sacred [end insert] pot used for celebration of ceremony of 'jok lubanga' - an affliction of TB of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim. Ceremonial drugged beer was drunk out of this pot, at the time of the killing and at an annual ceremony after. Acholiland (Koich clan) - Uganda [brown luggage tag, old faded ink, annotated 'Wright July 1939' in pencil]; Four-mouthed sacred pot, used for celebration of ceremony of 'Jok lubanga' - an affliction of tuberculosis of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim. Ceremonial drugged beer was drunk out of this pot, at the time of the killing and at an annual ceremony after. KOICH clan, ACHOLILAND, UGANDA, dd A.C.A. Wright. 1939.7.61 [brown luggage label; both tied to object, RTS 3/8/2005]. f
Card Catalogue Entry - Information as for the accession book, except that the ceremony is erroneously called 'Tok lubanga', not 'Jok lubanga' [RTS 30/1/2004].
Pitt Rivers Museum label - 4 mouthed [insert] sacred [end insert] pot used for celebration of ceremony of 'jok lubanga' - an affliction of TB of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim. Ceremonial drugged beer was drunk out of this pot, at the time of the killing and at an annual ceremony after. Acholiland (Koich clan) - Uganda [brown luggage tag, old faded ink, annotated 'Wright July 1939' in pencil]; Four-mouthed sacred pot, used for celebration of ceremony of 'Jok lubanga' - an affliction of tuberculosis of the spine which was dealt with by human sacrifice of the victim. Ceremonial drugged beer was drunk out of this pot, at the time of the killing and at an annual ceremony after. KOICH clan, ACHOLILAND, UGANDA, dd A.C.A. Wright. 1939.7.61 [brown luggage label; both tied to object, RTS 3/8/2005]. f
