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