1979.20.107

Collection type

Object

Description

Spear with leaf-shaped iron blade, single barb, decorated shank and socketed base with wooden shaft [RTS 13/7/2005].

Long description

Spear consisting of an iron spear-head with narrow leaf shaped blade ending in rounded shoulders and with an angular midrib running down the centre of both sides, becoming more prominent towards the base. This joins with a round sectioned shank, with a single barb curving down and out from one side, and a short rectangular segment below with incised decoration on its front and back faces, consisting of 4 angled cuts from the sides, meeting near the centre, with 2 pairs of shallower incised lines crossing across these in a >-shaped motif. The spear-head ends with a cylindrical socket that expands towards its base, with a closed seam running up the front. This has been fitted over a lightweight wooden shank with slightly oval section, and some scorch marks over the surface. This tapers in towards a slightly rounded butt, and is a yellow colour (Pantone ) with polished surface. The spear is complete, but has rust over some of the iron surface. It has a weight of 309.7 grams and a total length of 1697 mm. The spear-head is 427 mm long, with the blade having a length of 231 mm, width of 31.4 mm and maximum thickness of 5.5 mm; the shank has a diameter of 9.3 by 9 mm and the socketed base measures 17.2 by 17 mm across. The shaft has an upper diameter of 14.5 by 13.2 mm and diameter at the end of 10 mm [RTS 13/7/2005].

Geographical reference

South Sudan

Africa > Eastern Africa > South Sudan

Northern Bahr el Ghazal Dhangrial Wun Rog Mayen

Cultural groups

Dinka Tuich

Person

Field collector John Mack

Field collector Museum of Mankind

PRM source Patti Langton

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1979

Date collected

22 February 1979

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1979

Materials and processes

Material Iron Metal, Material Wood Plant, Process Forged (Metal), Process Hammered, Process Socketed, Process Decorated, Process Carved, Process Polished, Process Incised

Dimensions

Length: max 1697 mm, Length: max 427 mm spearhead, Length: max 231 mm blade, Width: max 31.4 mm blade, Diameter: max 14.5 mm shaft, Weight 309.7 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1979.20.107 Other numbers: Langton Collection 248

Research and responses

For an essay on the variety and cultural significance of spears in South Sudan, particularly among the Dinka and Nuer, see ‘“Spears” that are not Spears’, by Jok Madut Jok, in Pieces of a Nation: South Sudanese Heritage and Museum Collections, edited by Zoe Cormack and Cherry Leonardi (Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2021), pp. 110–114.

At the time this object was collected, the Bahr el Ghazal province was bordered by the Upper Nile Province to the east and Western Equatoria to the south; this area is now divided into the districts of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and parts of Warab and El Buheyrat. Dhangrial, Wun Rog and Mayen lie within Northern Bahr el Ghazal. For a map showing the distribution of Dinka Tuich groups, see J. Ryle, 1982, Warriors of the White Nile: The Dinka, p. 25.

Nebel defines the term Tòng, plural tòòng, as ‘spear, war, fight’ (Nebel 1979, Dinka-English Dictionary, p. 84). The Dinka often modify the term tong by a second word that describes the appearance of the spear, such as tong alol, tong anerich, tong magang or tong achokwe (see 1979.20.76-79, 1979.20.94, 96-97, 107-108, 110).

Langton comments on the accession book entry for 1979.20.76 that the spears used by the Dinka Tuich were obtained in trade, with the better-made more traditional examples produced by the 'Jur Lao', (e.g.: 1979.20.108) and usually inferior 'copies' made by Arab smiths at Omdurman (e.g.: 1979.20.76 and the example described here) [RTS 12/1/2005].

Associated publications

Pieces of a Nation: South Sudanese Heritage and Museum Collections, Editor: Zoe Cormack; Editor: Cherry Leonardi, 2021

Illustrated in colour on page 112 of ‘“Spears” that are not Spears’, by Jok Madut Jok, in Pieces of a Nation: South Sudanese Heritage and Museum Collections, edited by Zoe Cormack and Cherry Leonardi (Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2021), pp. 110–114. Caption: ‘Example of töng purchased in 1979 in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan.’

Search terms: Weapon, Spear, Spear-head