Rek Dinka ox sacrifice
56 x 56 mm | Print gelatin silver
Date of Print:
Unknown
Accession Number:
2005.51.460.1
Description:
A group of men in a homestead gathered around a sacrificed ox (muor nhialic, the ox of Divinity).
Some men hold ropes tied to the ox, while another man cuts at its neck with a spear.
Two women are sitting on the animal's flank during the sacrifice which is believed to cure barreness.
The occasion of the sacrifice was the funerary ceremony of an old master of the fishing-spear of the Agwok tribe of the Rek Dinka, held in a village on the boundary between the Agwok and that of the close neighbouring Apuk.
Photographer:
Godfrey Lienhardt
Date of Photo:
1947 - 1951
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Warab
Group:
Dinka Rek Agwok
Publication History:
Contemporary Publication - Reproduced as Plate Vb (facing page 113) in Godfrey Lienhardt's
Divinity and Experience: the religion of the Dinka
(Oxford University Press 1961), with the caption 'b.
Sacrifice'.
[CM 05/07/2006]
PRM Source:
Estate of Ronald Godfrey Lienhardt, via Ahmed al-Shahi (literary executor)
Acquired:
Donated 2005
Other Owners:
Godfrey Lienhardt Collection
Class:
Ritual , Death
Keyword:
Animal Cattle
Activity:
Ritual Activity
Event:
Sacrifice
Primary Documentation:
Inscription - '
Godfrey
- DINKA 150 prints - Black & White (1 photo - coloured)' (on envelope containing prints) [AN 07/04/2006]
Notes on print/mount - 'Killing fairly quick and less messy than it looks. Woman sitting on it to cure barrenness' (on reverse of print) [AN 07/04/2006]
Notes on print/mount - 'Killing fairly quick and less messy than it looks. Woman sitting on it to cure barrenness' (on reverse of print) [AN 07/04/2006]
Recorder:
Alex Nadin 07/04/2006 [Southern Sudan Project]
