Harp lute
date: label: Accession Date
content: 13 Jan 2010
label: Collection Date
content: May 2009
name: label: Collector
content: Judith Knight
label: Donor Name
content: Judith Knight
notes: label: Notes
content: Narrow unpainted wood body with leather head. Neck ends in a carved figure of a human head. No strings. Metal hook in front. Judith Knight notes: "“Mongombi” is the local name for the harp or sitar in Ebongwe-Tchogo. This is an older, now rare, harp with a classic style female head carved at top. Its strings are absent. Collected in Lambarene, it was then taken by the collector to be provenanced by Mitchogo elders at Ikobey who admired and identified it as being a genuine older Mitsogho harp, finely carved in the traditional way as found in areas such as Mimongo. The harp is gendered female (hence the standard female head carving) and is included in Mitsogho creation myths and stories. The harp is played exclusively by men, and accompanies a very gentle male voice singing a sort of lullaby. This is used especially in Bwiti Dissumba for the purposes of lulling the initiate to sleep as he takes the sacred wood and falls into 'sleep' to go 'inside' on his journey to self discovery. It is also played generally and may be heard when fathers sing their children to sleep at night.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 16 Oct 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Lambaréné, Moyen-Ogooué Province, Gabon, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Mitsogho (Tchogo)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2050990
label: USNM Number
content: E434694-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Lute
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 58 cm
label: Width
content: 12 cm
label: Height
content: 14 cm