Zande 'rain-magic'
104 x 78 mm | Print gelatin silver
Date of Print:
Unknown
Same Image As:
1998.341.59
Previous PRM Number:
EP.A.72
Previous Other Number:
16 4 (D.6) [frame 10]
Accession Number:
1998.341.72.2
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 - An identical image (although apparently from another negative) is 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)"] - 72. Rain-magic (showing axe-head planted in Circle of Ashes). 16/4 (D.6)
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)"] - 72. Rain-magic (showing axe-head planted in Circle of Ashes). 16/4 (D.6)
Other Information:
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] Based on internal evidence [series of three dot blemishes near the bottom of 1998.341.72], the print [1998.341.59] identical to this image does not seem to have been produced from this negative, but from another one (presumably taken at the same time), of which only the print survives.
This is supported by E-P's own film number, which identifies this image as D.6 and [1998.341.59] as D.10.
I have therefore kept the two sets of images separate in line with the previous catalogue which ascribes [1998.341.59] as the source for Plate XXXIIa in Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande (OUP, 1937) and not this negative.
[Chris Morton 9/10/2003]
Recorder:
Christopher Morton 9/10/2003 [Southern Sudan Project]
