Zande 'rain-magic'
104 x 78 mm | Print gelatin silver
Date of Print:
Unknown
Previous PRM Number:
EP.A.59
Previous Other Number:
16 4 (D.10) [frame 7]
Accession Number:
1998.341.59
Description:
A magical invocation consisting of an axe-head knocked into the ground, with a circle of ashes and manioc leaves around it, part of a rite to prevent rain falling during a man's feast.
Photographer:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Date of Photo:
1927 - 1930
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Western Equatoria Yambio
Group:
Zande
Publication History:
Contemporary Publication - Reproduced as Plate XXXIIa (facing page 460) in
Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande
(OUP 1937), with the caption "An axe-head driven into the ground amid magic plants to prevent rain from falling during a feast."
PRM Source:
Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard
Acquired:
Donated 1966
Other Owners:
E. E. Evans-Pritchard Collection
Class:
Religion , Ritual , Ritual Object , [Weapon]
Keyword:
Religious Offering , [Axe]
Activity:
Ritual Activity
Event:
Feast
Documentation:
Original catalogue lists in Manuscript Collections. Additional material in related documents files. [CM 27/9/2005]
Primary Documentation:
PRM Accession Records - [1966.27.21] G PROFESSOR E.
E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST.
OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD.
OXFORD - S.
SUDAN, AZANDE TRIBE.
Box of negatives in envelopes.
Nos.
1 - 400
Added Accession Book Entry - [In pencil in column] Catalogue room.
[1966.27.23] G PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD - S. SUDAN, AZANDE TRIBE. Box of prints in envelopes, nos. 1 - 400 (prints of negatives in 1966.27.21)
Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Zande Photographs (E-P)"] - 59. Rain-magic (showing axe-head planted in Circle of Ashes). 16/4 (D.10)
Added Accession Book Entry - [In pencil in column] Catalogue room.
[1966.27.23] G PROFESSOR E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD; INST. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 51 BANBURY RD. OXFORD - S. SUDAN, AZANDE TRIBE. Box of prints in envelopes, nos. 1 - 400 (prints of negatives in 1966.27.21)
Manual Catalogues [typewritten, entitled "Zande Photographs (E-P)"] - 59. Rain-magic (showing axe-head planted in Circle of Ashes). 16/4 (D.10)
Other Information:
Ethnographic context - In Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande (OUP 1937, page 471-2) E.
E.
Evans-Pritchard gives a translation of a Zande rite involving the use of the axe-head in rain-prevention.
Commenting on this image, he notes, 'The axe-head is shown in Plate XXXII.
It is knocked into the ground with its sharp side upwards.
On the occasion I saw this rite the magician first drove the axe-head into the ground with a stone, then uttered a spell, then strewed manioc leaves around the axe-head, and then made a ring of ashes round it....The leaf and the ashes are afterwards swept away and the axe-head is fitted to its handle and returns to its ordinary labours.' [Chris Morton 8/10/2003]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 8/10/2003 [Southern Sudan Project]
