Zande divining instrument
Other views of this artifact:
Accession Number:
1934.8.139 .1 .2
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria near Tambura
Cultural Group:
Zande
Date Made:
By 1933
Materials:
Wood Plant
Process:
Carved , Hollowed , ?Drilled , ?Turned , Polished
Dimensions:
[.1] L = 104, W = 28.2, th = 27.5 mm, socket depth = 46 mm; [.2] L = 83 mm, W = 23.5 mm, th = 23.3 mm; [.2 fitted into .1] L = 145 mm [RTS 18/8/2004].
Weight:
42.5 g [together], 26.6 [.1], 15.9 [.2]
Local Name:
makama jewa
Other Owners:
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 29th April 1933 during a shooting expedition
Field Collector:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)
PRM Source:
Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton
Acquired:
Donated 1934
Collected Date:
29th April 1933
Description:
Divining instrument made from two separate parts.
1934.8.139.1 represents the lower part of the object, and has been carved from a single piece of wood in the shape of a narrow cone with slightly rounded lip and sides tapering to a blunt point.
The upper half of the cone has been hollowed out to create a socket.
There are circular turning marks visible on the interior walls that may be either from the use of a drill in the boring process, or as a result of the upper element turning around in this socket during use.
The outer surface has been polished and is a light yellowish brown colour (Pantone 7508-7509C); this object is complete, but has a small depression partially bored into the base and some dark patches staining the surface.
This weighs 26.6 grams and is 104 mm long, 28.2 mm wide and 27.5 mm thick; the hollow socket has a depth of 46 mm.
1934.8.139.2 represents the upper, active part of the object, and has also been carved from a single piece of wood. This takes the form of an inverted cone with circular top that slopes down gently from a raised point at the centre; the body tapers to its base where there is a very narrow flattened tip. The upper part of the body is smooth and polished; the top has been stained a darker brown, while the lower half is lighter in colour and has only slight use wear. There are a series of turning marks clearly visible around its surface. It is designed to fit neatly into the hollowed socket of the lower part, where it can be turned by hand. This has been made from the same type of wood as the lower section, and is complete and intact. It weighs 15.9 grams, and is 83 mm long, 23.5 mm wide and 23.3 mm thick. The two parts have a combined weight of 42.5 grams, and when fitted together are 145 mm long.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah on the road to Tambura on 29th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
In the original list of objects given to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Powell-Cotton gave the Zande name for this type of object as jewa, and said that a witch was called Mango. The latter term presumably relates to the Zande for witchcraft in general, mangu. On being accessioned, the Zande term for this instrument had been changed to makama, probably by consultation with Evans-Pritchard or his publications. For a discussion of this type of divining instrument, see Evans-Pritchard, who illustrates an almost identical example. It is used as follows "Witchdoctors hand it [the cone slotted into its outer sheath] to members of their audience at seances to discover whether they are witches... They hold the sheath and present the cone to the people they want to test. Those who fail to pull out the cone are suspected of witchcraft though the test is regarded lightly by every one and rather in the nature of a joke" (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1977, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, p. 376 and figure 5).
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
1934.8.139.2 represents the upper, active part of the object, and has also been carved from a single piece of wood. This takes the form of an inverted cone with circular top that slopes down gently from a raised point at the centre; the body tapers to its base where there is a very narrow flattened tip. The upper part of the body is smooth and polished; the top has been stained a darker brown, while the lower half is lighter in colour and has only slight use wear. There are a series of turning marks clearly visible around its surface. It is designed to fit neatly into the hollowed socket of the lower part, where it can be turned by hand. This has been made from the same type of wood as the lower section, and is complete and intact. It weighs 15.9 grams, and is 83 mm long, 23.5 mm wide and 23.3 mm thick. The two parts have a combined weight of 42.5 grams, and when fitted together are 145 mm long.
Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah on the road to Tambura on 29th April 1933, during a shooting expedition.
In the original list of objects given to the Pitt Rivers Museum, Powell-Cotton gave the Zande name for this type of object as jewa, and said that a witch was called Mango. The latter term presumably relates to the Zande for witchcraft in general, mangu. On being accessioned, the Zande term for this instrument had been changed to makama, probably by consultation with Evans-Pritchard or his publications. For a discussion of this type of divining instrument, see Evans-Pritchard, who illustrates an almost identical example. It is used as follows "Witchdoctors hand it [the cone slotted into its outer sheath] to members of their audience at seances to discover whether they are witches... They hold the sheath and present the cone to the people they want to test. Those who fail to pull out the cone are suspected of witchcraft though the test is regarded lightly by every one and rather in the nature of a joke" (E.E. Evans-Pritchard, 1977, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande, p. 376 and figure 5).
Rachael Sparks 25/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book Entry
[p.
248] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] -
MAJOR P.
H.
G.
POWELL-COTTON
, Quex Park, Birchington, E.
Kent.
Specimens collected by himself & Mrs Cotton, during hunting trips, 1933, viz: [...] [p.
260] 1934 [insert] 8 [end insert] - From the
ZANDE
TRIBE, LIRANGO, YAMBIO, DINGBA & TAMBURA, [p.
259] [insert] 139 [end insert] -
Makama
, friction divining instrument - a positive - and negative cone.
the former being turned in the latter, used by a witch-doctor - ZANDE, TAMBURA (1027) [...] [p.
262, in pencil] 139 - See entry on p.
259 CW 29/3/2000.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 1027: “Witch's devining [sic] grinder - (Witch's name Mango) -5 1/2 " long, native name Jewa , 29/4/33 Road to Tambura, 5.35 N 27.30 E". Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Makama friction divining instrument used by a witch-doctor. ZANDE, TAMBURA, E. SUDAN. 5 ° 33' N., 27 ° 30' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (1027) [written on a label stuck to 1934.8.139.1; RTS 13/8/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 2/2/2004].
Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Zande Tribe". This object appears as item 1027: “Witch's devining [sic] grinder - (Witch's name Mango) -5 1/2 " long, native name Jewa , 29/4/33 Road to Tambura, 5.35 N 27.30 E". Also contains details of a cine film 'some tribes of the Southern Sudan', taken by Powell-Cotton during this 1933 expedition, copies of which are now in the National Film and Television Archive and the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent [RTS 14/3/2005].
Old Pitt Rivers Museum label - Makama friction divining instrument used by a witch-doctor. ZANDE, TAMBURA, E. SUDAN. 5 ° 33' N., 27 ° 30' E. d.d. Major Powell-Cotton, 1934 (1027) [written on a label stuck to 1934.8.139.1; RTS 13/8/2004].
