Shilluk shrine of Nyakang

82 x 82 mm | Lantern slide glass

MountDimension:

82 x 82 mm

Condition:

small crack urh corner [Chris Morton 15/10/2004]

Date of Print:

Unknown

Previous Other Number:

V.e.33 (291)

Accession Number:

1967.26.182

Description:

One of the ten shrine enclosures of the founder of the Shilluk nation, Nyakang, at Akurwa. This site, one of the two most important Nyakang shrines, was visited by the Seligmans in 1910, and consisted at that time of two huts carefully fenced into a courtyard, sheltering the important ritual four-legged stool and effigy of Nyakang, used in the installation of the new reth at Fenikang. The shrines took the form of Shilluk homesteads since they were considered to be the homes of Nyakang. The shrine were looked after by attendents called bareth, who received sacrifices and kept them clean.

Photographer:

Charles Gabriel Seligman

Date of Photo:

1910

Region:

[Southern Sudan] Upper Nile Akurwa

Group:

Shilluk

PRM Source:

London School of Economics and Political Science

Acquired:

Donated 1967

Other Owners:

C. G. Seligman slide collection

Class:

Religion , Settlement

Keyword:

Shrine , Building Religious , Fence

Documentation:

Manual Catalogue in Related Documents File

Primary Documentation:

Accession Book Entry - [1967.26] THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, HOUGHTON STREET, ALDWYCH, LONDON, W.C.E. PER MR ANTHONY FORGE - SUDAN. Box containing 309 lantern slides (3 1/4” x 3 1/4”) made from photographs taken by the late Professor C. G. SELIGMAN in various parts of the SUDAN. All slides numbered and labelled. Catalogue in file (“Seligman Slide Collection”). Additional Accession Book Entry - [in pencil] 18 Parks Rd.

Manual catalogue entry (thermofax catalogue copy in folder '27-06 Seligman Slide Collection') - "V.e.33 Shilluk shrine at Akurwa. (291)"

Note on lantern slide ms ink - "V.e.33 Shilluk shrine at Akurwa. CGS. 291"

Other Information:

In C.G. & B. Seligman's Pagan Tribes of the Nilotic Sudan (London, Routledge 1932), page 77, they note that 'In 1910 the Akurwa shrine consisted of two huts...'

Recorder:

Christopher Morton [15/10/2004] [Southern Sudan Project]