DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0238
176
C. G. and B. Z. Seligman
that of the Sheykh himself, could boast so complete or so highly ornamented a set of
camel-trappings. Yet no family would be entirely without them, and in the poorest
tent some of them would be seen hanging at the back.
The vessel called bot'a, although not of leather, is one of the 'adad mentioned on the
previous page. It is flask-shaped with a narrow neck, and is used for carrying dihn. All
the bot'a we saw were of the same shape and approximately of the same size, but not all
were of the same material. The more highly prized were of camel skin covered with a
dark resinous composition which in consistence resembled well worked bees’ wax; the less
valuable were made of clay and seemed to be the only pottery vessels which had a definite
place among the Kababish household goods. The bot'a which forms part of the 'adad
is, or should be, of camel skin. It is made somewhat as follows; a piece of fresh camel skin
of the right size is bunched up so as to form a narrow necked pouch, the hairy side inwards.
This is filled with sand so that it retains its shape when hung up to dry in the sun or per-
haps before a fire. We do not know whether the neck of the vessel is trimmed and sewn
into shape. When it is dry it is coated with resin into which charred fragments of cloth
have been worked, and in which cowry shells or seeds may be embedded as ornaments.
The pottery representative of the bot'a is the dulak or dulang of the Nuba or half-breed
potters of the northern hills of Kordofan. Both bot'a and dulak often have a conven-
tional loop handle at the shoulder, though in the former the neck is shorter than is usual
in the latter. Whether of camel-skin or clay the bot'a is suspended in a broad meshed
carrier of leather or cord.
2. Spinning and Weaving. Thread is spun from the hair of goat, sheep, and camel.
Pl. 5, figs. 3 and 4, shows how this is done. The woman shown took a few handfuls of
goat’s hair and beat them with a whippy stick so that the hairs became separated. Then,
taking a stiff piece of dried grass stem in her right hand she twisted some hair round it and
continuing to twist, while a thread as if by magic grew out of the mass of hair continually
fed into it by her left hand. As soon as she had about an arm’s length of thread, she dis-
carded the piece of grass in favour of a stick about a foot long around which she wound the
thread. She rotated the stick in her right hand and the thread grew more quickly than ever.
This thread is used to weave the coarse samla which serves as a wrap during a smoke bath,
and as a light covering or shelter when travelling. For other purposes the thread has to be
twisted double before it is woven. This is done on a mubram (from root b.r.m, “ to twist ”),
a thin stick, with an oval piece of wood near one end. This is spun against the thigh as
is shown in pl. 5, fig. 4. The important fabrics made with a two-ply yarn are as fol-
lows :— Suka (pl. aska) made of camel’s hair, are the most closely woven and the most costly;
they constitute the roof of the tent. Khesa (pl. khts) made of goat’s hair, generally a brown-
ish fabric with borders of alternate black and white bands. Zekaf (pl. zekuf') made of
C. G. and B. Z. Seligman
that of the Sheykh himself, could boast so complete or so highly ornamented a set of
camel-trappings. Yet no family would be entirely without them, and in the poorest
tent some of them would be seen hanging at the back.
The vessel called bot'a, although not of leather, is one of the 'adad mentioned on the
previous page. It is flask-shaped with a narrow neck, and is used for carrying dihn. All
the bot'a we saw were of the same shape and approximately of the same size, but not all
were of the same material. The more highly prized were of camel skin covered with a
dark resinous composition which in consistence resembled well worked bees’ wax; the less
valuable were made of clay and seemed to be the only pottery vessels which had a definite
place among the Kababish household goods. The bot'a which forms part of the 'adad
is, or should be, of camel skin. It is made somewhat as follows; a piece of fresh camel skin
of the right size is bunched up so as to form a narrow necked pouch, the hairy side inwards.
This is filled with sand so that it retains its shape when hung up to dry in the sun or per-
haps before a fire. We do not know whether the neck of the vessel is trimmed and sewn
into shape. When it is dry it is coated with resin into which charred fragments of cloth
have been worked, and in which cowry shells or seeds may be embedded as ornaments.
The pottery representative of the bot'a is the dulak or dulang of the Nuba or half-breed
potters of the northern hills of Kordofan. Both bot'a and dulak often have a conven-
tional loop handle at the shoulder, though in the former the neck is shorter than is usual
in the latter. Whether of camel-skin or clay the bot'a is suspended in a broad meshed
carrier of leather or cord.
2. Spinning and Weaving. Thread is spun from the hair of goat, sheep, and camel.
Pl. 5, figs. 3 and 4, shows how this is done. The woman shown took a few handfuls of
goat’s hair and beat them with a whippy stick so that the hairs became separated. Then,
taking a stiff piece of dried grass stem in her right hand she twisted some hair round it and
continuing to twist, while a thread as if by magic grew out of the mass of hair continually
fed into it by her left hand. As soon as she had about an arm’s length of thread, she dis-
carded the piece of grass in favour of a stick about a foot long around which she wound the
thread. She rotated the stick in her right hand and the thread grew more quickly than ever.
This thread is used to weave the coarse samla which serves as a wrap during a smoke bath,
and as a light covering or shelter when travelling. For other purposes the thread has to be
twisted double before it is woven. This is done on a mubram (from root b.r.m, “ to twist ”),
a thin stick, with an oval piece of wood near one end. This is spun against the thigh as
is shown in pl. 5, fig. 4. The important fabrics made with a two-ply yarn are as fol-
lows :— Suka (pl. aska) made of camel’s hair, are the most closely woven and the most costly;
they constitute the roof of the tent. Khesa (pl. khts) made of goat’s hair, generally a brown-
ish fabric with borders of alternate black and white bands. Zekaf (pl. zekuf') made of