Ambatch stem
   Accession Number: 
(1903.16.130) 
Country: 
Sudan? , Uganda? 
Region: 
[Southern Sudan?] [Upper Nile] 
Date Made: 
By 1903 
Materials: 
Plant Stem , Wood Plant 
Other Owners: 
Collected by Donald Gunn in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Museum records do not give a specific provenance for this item, but Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok 
Field Collector: 
Donald Gunn 
PRM Source: 
Donald Gunn 
Acquired: 
Donated 1903 
Collected Date: 
By 1903 
Description: 
Stem of ambatch plant.
Collected by Donald Gunn in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Museum records give only the generic provenance of ‘Upper Nile’ for this item; Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok and Bor, Nuer material from around Lake No, Dinka material from the ‘White Nile’ and Arab material from Omdurman.
Ambatch is a type of leguminous shrub ( Aeschynomene elaphroxylon ), found in many parts of Africa, including the Sudan, and grows in river shallows to a height of between 4 and 6 metres. It produces a light, spongy wood that was often used for objects such as parry shields and rafts ( Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1999, 10th edition, ed. J. Pearsall; http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/B1AB.HTM ).
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Collected by Donald Gunn in the Southern Sudan and presented to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1903. Museum records give only the generic provenance of ‘Upper Nile’ for this item; Gunn appears to have collected Shilluk material from the ‘White Nile’, ‘Upper Nile’, Kodok and Bor, Nuer material from around Lake No, Dinka material from the ‘White Nile’ and Arab material from Omdurman.
Ambatch is a type of leguminous shrub ( Aeschynomene elaphroxylon ), found in many parts of Africa, including the Sudan, and grows in river shallows to a height of between 4 and 6 metres. It produces a light, spongy wood that was often used for objects such as parry shields and rafts ( Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1999, 10th edition, ed. J. Pearsall; http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/B1AB.HTM ).
Rachael Sparks 18/9/2005.
Primary Documentation: 
Accession Book Entry
   [III, p. 
110] - 1903 [pencil insert] 16 [end insert] 
  DR
   D. 
GUNN
   Esq., M.B. 
40 Dover Street, London, W. 
June. 
[...] [p. 
114, pencil insert] 130 [end insert] - Stem of ambatch, [large space left] Upper Nile.
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 28/1/2004].
Card Catalogue Entry - There is no further information on the tribes catalogue card [RTS 28/1/2004].

