Rohl elephant spear
Accession Number:
[1884.19.158]
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan] [White Nile] ?Yaro River area
Cultural Group:
?Jur ?Bongo ?Dinka [Rohl]
Date Made:
?Before 1865
Materials:
Iron Metal , ?Clay , Wood Plant , Bamboo Plant
Process:
Carved
Other Owners:
Collected in Sudan by John Petherick, sometime between 1853 and 1859, or 1861 to 1865. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers by 1868, perhaps via auction, as Petherick is known to have auctioned some of his collection through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, Lo
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Donated 1884
Collected Date:
1853 - 1859 or 1861 - 1865
Description:
Elephant spear with bamboo shaft, wooden hilt and iron point.
Collected in Sudan by John Petherick, most probably between 1853 and 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers by 1868, probably at the auction of Petherick's material conducted through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This is likely to be the item recorded as part of lot 50,'An Elephant spear (Kohl)' - presumably an error for 'Rohl'. Pitt Rivers was displayed at the Bethnal Green Museum in 1878, then later displayed in the South Kensington Museum, before being transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
This spear is said to come from the Rohl tribe. A map published in Petherick 1861 shows a group known as the 'Rhol Tribe' occupying an area south and inland from the Bahr el Ghazal. This group is spelt as either 'Rohl' or 'Rhol' throughout Petherick's publications; it may be a variant of 'Rohi', which is an alternative name for the Yaro River. This object could conceivably be Jur Luo, Dinka, or Bongo in origin, based on the region it is said to come from. It could have been collected either between 1853-1858, when Petherick mounted several trading expeditions south of Khartoum, or else between 1861 and 1865 when he travelled south to Gondokoro, and mentions passing through Rohl territory (see Travels in Central Africa and Explorations of the Western Nile Tributaries, vol. I; he is around the Rohl area from September to November in 1862) - although that would mean that this is not the item mentioned in the 1862 auction catalogue, as it would not have been shipped to England until 1865.
Petherick gives the 'Dor' (e.g.: Bongo) name for a lance as mehé (Petherick 1861, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa , p. 482). It is not known if this term refers to a specific type of lance or spear, but it seems likely that there were more than one term for these kinds of weapons in use at the time.
Travels in Central Africa vol 1 p. 232 '... this spear having either a log of ebony or a lump of clay on the end of it, is thrown by the hunter from the branch of a tree, perpendicularly on to the elephant, when taking his midday siesta. When in a favourable position, the spear penetrates deeply into the carcass of the animal, and he soon expires. ...' [Drawing]. See also Petherick 1861, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, pp 413-5, which describes the Jur Luo killing an elephant using spears, a method which he describes as 'practised by the generality of the tribes' and p. 415, use of elephant traps, then 'another method ... practised by some of the upper Dor [=Bongo] and Baer [=Mundu?] tribes: a strong lance, with a handle five feet in length, the extremity shaped like a club, in diameter about four inches, is laden with a stone, fixed to it with cords, and plastered over with clay, the whole being made as heavy as it can be managed... [the hunter] ascends [a tree] ... and quietly awaits the arrival of his prey; and when one of them is directly under him, with all his force he sends the spear into his back or shoulders. When the blow has been well directed, the animal bounds about for a short time, increasing the wound by the oscillation of the spear'.
By the time Schweinfurth visited the area, in 1868, elephants were no longer hunted in Bongo territory, showing the impact of the ivory trade on the area. Elephant spears were now 'weapons of luxury in the possession of the wealthy, or upon some rare occasions used for buffalo-hunting' (G. Schweinfurth, 1873, In the Heart of Africa Vol. I, 272-3).
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Collected in Sudan by John Petherick, most probably between 1853 and 1859. Subsequently acquired by Pitt Rivers by 1868, probably at the auction of Petherick's material conducted through Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862 (see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan ). This is likely to be the item recorded as part of lot 50,'An Elephant spear (Kohl)' - presumably an error for 'Rohl'. Pitt Rivers was displayed at the Bethnal Green Museum in 1878, then later displayed in the South Kensington Museum, before being transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
This spear is said to come from the Rohl tribe. A map published in Petherick 1861 shows a group known as the 'Rhol Tribe' occupying an area south and inland from the Bahr el Ghazal. This group is spelt as either 'Rohl' or 'Rhol' throughout Petherick's publications; it may be a variant of 'Rohi', which is an alternative name for the Yaro River. This object could conceivably be Jur Luo, Dinka, or Bongo in origin, based on the region it is said to come from. It could have been collected either between 1853-1858, when Petherick mounted several trading expeditions south of Khartoum, or else between 1861 and 1865 when he travelled south to Gondokoro, and mentions passing through Rohl territory (see Travels in Central Africa and Explorations of the Western Nile Tributaries, vol. I; he is around the Rohl area from September to November in 1862) - although that would mean that this is not the item mentioned in the 1862 auction catalogue, as it would not have been shipped to England until 1865.
Petherick gives the 'Dor' (e.g.: Bongo) name for a lance as mehé (Petherick 1861, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa , p. 482). It is not known if this term refers to a specific type of lance or spear, but it seems likely that there were more than one term for these kinds of weapons in use at the time.
Travels in Central Africa vol 1 p. 232 '... this spear having either a log of ebony or a lump of clay on the end of it, is thrown by the hunter from the branch of a tree, perpendicularly on to the elephant, when taking his midday siesta. When in a favourable position, the spear penetrates deeply into the carcass of the animal, and he soon expires. ...' [Drawing]. See also Petherick 1861, Egypt, The Sudan and Central Africa, pp 413-5, which describes the Jur Luo killing an elephant using spears, a method which he describes as 'practised by the generality of the tribes' and p. 415, use of elephant traps, then 'another method ... practised by some of the upper Dor [=Bongo] and Baer [=Mundu?] tribes: a strong lance, with a handle five feet in length, the extremity shaped like a club, in diameter about four inches, is laden with a stone, fixed to it with cords, and plastered over with clay, the whole being made as heavy as it can be managed... [the hunter] ascends [a tree] ... and quietly awaits the arrival of his prey; and when one of them is directly under him, with all his force he sends the spear into his back or shoulders. When the blow has been well directed, the animal bounds about for a short time, increasing the wound by the oscillation of the spear'.
By the time Schweinfurth visited the area, in 1868, elephants were no longer hunted in Bongo territory, showing the impact of the ivory trade on the area. Elephant spears were now 'weapons of luxury in the possession of the wealthy, or upon some rare occasions used for buffalo-hunting' (G. Schweinfurth, 1873, In the Heart of Africa Vol. I, 272-3).
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession Book IV entry
[p.
37]
-
[insert] 1884.19.
3-figure nos refer to P.R.
(A.L.F.) printed cat.
of weapons [end insert] WEAPONS.
SPEARS, DARTS.
[p.
41] [pencil insert] 158 [end insert] [note there is no 3 digit number for this entry] - Elephant spear.
ROHL tribe, WHITE NILE (Petherick Coll.
Ag 7456).
Additional Accession Book IV entry [p. opposite 41] - Petherick - Travels in C[entral] Africa [volume] I, [p.] 232.
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [...] [insert] 1884.19.158 [end insert] Elephant spear, Rohl tribe, White Nile (30˚ E 17˚N), Trav[els in] C[entral] A[frica] p. 232 vol I. Ag PR Ag. 7456 & 126.
Delivery Catalogue I entry [p. 71] - [insert] 1884.19.158 elephant [end insert] Spear, bamboo shaft, wood hilt, Rohi [corrected to 'Rohl' in pencil] tribe. Ag. 7456. 126. Screen 30, 80.
Added Delivery Catalogue I entry - Elephant.
'Green book' entry [p. 47] - South Kensington Receipts, 19th January 1878. The collection of anthropological objects as per list (pages 1-10) attached. On loan. [p. 48] List of anthropological objects received from Maj. Genl A. Lane Fox. 16th & 17th January 1878. [p. 52] Objects chiefly from Mr J.G. Wood's collection [p. 56] [insert] 56.2153 [end insert] 126. 1 iron elephant spear. [insert] 1884.19.158 [end insert].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Additional Accession Book IV entry [p. opposite 41] - Petherick - Travels in C[entral] Africa [volume] I, [p.] 232.
Collectors Miscellaneous XI Accession Book entry [p. 193] - PETHERICK, Consul [...] [insert] 1884.19.158 [end insert] Elephant spear, Rohl tribe, White Nile (30˚ E 17˚N), Trav[els in] C[entral] A[frica] p. 232 vol I. Ag PR Ag. 7456 & 126.
Delivery Catalogue I entry [p. 71] - [insert] 1884.19.158 elephant [end insert] Spear, bamboo shaft, wood hilt, Rohi [corrected to 'Rohl' in pencil] tribe. Ag. 7456. 126. Screen 30, 80.
Added Delivery Catalogue I entry - Elephant.
'Green book' entry [p. 47] - South Kensington Receipts, 19th January 1878. The collection of anthropological objects as per list (pages 1-10) attached. On loan. [p. 48] List of anthropological objects received from Maj. Genl A. Lane Fox. 16th & 17th January 1878. [p. 52] Objects chiefly from Mr J.G. Wood's collection [p. 56] [insert] 56.2153 [end insert] 126. 1 iron elephant spear. [insert] 1884.19.158 [end insert].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 23/7/2004].
Display History:
Displayed in Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A).
This is one of only eleven objects from the Petherick collections which are not mentioned in the Black Red or Blue books, it is therefore possible that these eleven objects were displayed at Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums prior to transferring here in 1884.
This is more likely given the Ag number in the accession book entry, although I cannot match this object against any of the Ag numbers in the Blue black or red books [AP].
