Nuer oxen

64 x 41 mm | Negative film nitrate

There are records relating to alternative images that we do not have scans for in the database:
1998.346.84.2 - Print gelatin silver , (61 x 40 mm)

Date of Print:

Unknown

Previous PRM Number:

EP.N.84

Previous Other Number:

32 1 (81)

Accession Number:

1998.346.84.1

Description:

A number of cattle tethered to pegs in a wooded area, possibly in the vicinity of the Bahr-el-Ghazal River, with a large ma gut ox showing the training of the left horn over the muzzle, a prized and aesthetically pleasing art form. This training is mirrored in the male practice of binding the left arm with metal bands called thiau, both of which are often done soon after initiation.

Photographer:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Date of Photo:

1930

Region:

[Southern Sudan] ?Wahda Pakur village

Group:

Nuer ?Leek

PRM Source:

Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard

Acquired:

Donated 1966

Other Owners:

E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection

Class:

Animal Husbandry

Keyword:

Animal Cattle

Documentation:

Original catalogue lists in Manuscript Collections. Additional material in related documents files. [CM 27/9/2005]

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry: [p. 98] 1966.27 [1 - 24] G[ift] PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD 1966.27.17 S. SUDAN. NUER TRIBE. Box of negatives each in separate envelope, labelled. (some missing). Nos. 1 - 213. (prints in box 1966.27.18)...1966.27.18 S. SUDAN. NUER TRIBE. Box of prints each in separate envelope. Nos. 1 - 213. (negatives in 1966.27.17.)

Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Nuer Photographs (E-P)"] - 84. Cattle camp and magud ox. (S.) [small size] (81)

Note on negative ms ink - "81"

Other Information:

In Nuer Religion (Oxford University Press 1974 [1957] 256), E. E. Evans-Pritchard notes that 'It is remarkable also that Nuer compare to the initiation of youths the cutting (ngat) of the horns of favourite oxen (they are entire animals at the time) so that they will grow against the cut at fancy angles, generally in a curve across the muzzle (ma gut). [Chris Morton 21/4/2004]

Recorder:

Christopher Morton [6/4/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]