Kanemboo spearman; Munga bowman

This engraving shows a front view of Kanem spearman in a loin cloth holding an elaborately designed shield and spears in his left hand, while holding a pot in his right. He wore a turban wrapped around his chin. In the forefront, is a rear view of a Munga archer in a loin cloth who has his bow and quail over his right shoulder. He is wearing an elaborate hat or helmet. This engraving is based on a sketch by Denham of soldiers who served the Sheikh of Bornu. Dixon Denham (1786–1828) was an English soldier and explorer. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars, Denham volunteered in 1821 to join Walter Oudney and Hugh Clapperton on an official expedition across the Sahara from Tripoli to in the Lake Chad basin of the Central Savanna region. After enduring danger and privation, they arrived at Kuka, the capital of Bornu, in 1823. While Clapperton and Oudney set out on a journey westward, Denham traveled the shores of Lake Chad and the lower courses of the Waubé, Chari and Logone rivers. After returning to England in 1825, Denham became the superintendent of Liberated Africans in Freetown in 1827, and the year after, he became governor of Sierra Leone.

Image Title

Kanemboo spearman; Munga bowman

RegID

SI-OB-805

Date

1822-1824

Title

Kanemboo spearman; Munga bowman

Source

Dixon Denham, Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824 (London: John Murray, 1826), facing p. 166.

Language

English

Item sets

Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture

Spatial Coverage

Africa--Central Savanna

Researchers

Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May

Last Updated

5-Apr-16; 21-Aug-19

Identifier

Denham001