Dinka hoe

1934.8.15

Sudan

[Southern Sudan] ?Warab Kornuk

Dinka

By 1933

Iron Metal , Wood Plant

Carved , Polished , Forged (Metal) , Hammered , Socketed

Total L = 480, hoe blade with socket L = 116, blade L = 52, W = 103, th = 3.2, socket diam at top = 29.7; wooden shaft diam = 26.5 x 26.2; handle L = 186, W = 38, th = 37.2 mm [RTS 1/7/2005].

482.2 g

yai

Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife on 25th May 1933 during a shooting expedition

Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton & Hannah Powell-Cotton (nee Brayton)

Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton

Donated 1934

25th May 1933

Hoe made in 2 joining parts. The blade consists of a flat piece of iron with lentoid plan view, consisting of a shallow, curving working edge that has a slight bevel on one side representing use wear, and steeper, convex shoulders. This has been attached to a second piece of iron, bent round to form a cylindrical socket that gradually expands towards its base, with a broad open seam running down the front. The junction of these 2 pieces is marked by a tapering ridge that runs across the face of the blade. The socketed base was then fitted onto a wooden shaft. This has a tapering end, where it slots into the socket, then a short cylindrical shaft that widens and becomes almost semi circular in section at its base, where a short cylindrical handle with flat-cut end extends out at an acute angle. This is an example of 'found form', as the wooden part of the object has been selected from a tree branch that has naturally developed a shape suitable for this particular function. Tool marks are visible across this part of the wood especially, and the surface has been polished; it is currently a orange brown colour (Pantone 730C). The object appears complete, although there is a concave edge on the end of the blade that may be the result of edge damage, since worn smooth through use. 2 small holes have been drilled into the socket on either side, and a small European screw fitted into one of these, to secure the socket to the wood, while a split down the back of the socket has been partially filled with an unknown glossy black material. These measures look like modern repairs, and probably post-dates the purchase of the object. There is also a long crack running down the length of the wooden shaft, in line with that down the iron socket, and a further crack along the handle section, while the iron is suffering from some surface rust. The object has a weight of 482.2 grams, and a total length of 480 mm. The hoe blade is 166 mm long, with a blade length of 52 mm, width of 103 mm and thickness of 3.2 mm, and socket diameter at the top of 29.7 mm. The wooden shaft has a diameter of 26.5 by 26.2 mm midway down the shaft, while the angled handle is 186 mm long, 38 mm wide and 37.2 mm thick at its end.

Collected by Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton and his wife Hannah at Kornuk on 25th May 1933, during a shooting expedition. They record the local name for this object as yai. Nebel, on the other hand, gives the Dinka term for a hoe as pur; and a hoe of the Jur is known as pur abat, while a European hoe is called malol (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 149). It is not clear where the term yai fits in; Nebel defines it as ‘sacrifice, feast meeting’, and Yai, rap yai, ‘ durra not yet threshed’ - so there may be some agricultural relevance to the term here (op. cit. p. 95).

Rachael Sparks 24/9/2005.

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: - From the DINKA tribe, FANAMWEIR & KORNUK, WHITE NILE [...] [insert] 15 [end insert] - Yai , hoe with iron blade socketed to long fore-haft and with very short handle. KORNUK. (2650).

Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the catalogue card [RTS 03/03/2004].

Pitt Rivers Museum label - AFRICA, Sudan, Kornuk. DINKA tribe. Hoe with iron blade. Local name yai . d.d. P.H.G. Powell-Cotton, 1934.8.15 (2650) [plastic coated label, tied to object; RTS 1/7/2005].

Written on object - Yai . Hoe, DINKA. KORNUK, WHITE NILE, 7° 53' N., 28° 9' E. d.d. Major P-Cotton, 1934 [RTS on 1/7/2005].

Related Documents File - Typewritten List of "Curios Presented to Dr. Balfour by Major & Mrs. Powell-Cotton. Dinka Tribe". This object appears as item 2650: "Hoe, native name Yai , 25/5/33 Kornuk, 7.53 N 28.9 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].