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Illustration of Umkhovu
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
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Umkhovu

Wɔfrɛ no bio: imikhovu, esemkofu, esimkovu
Tete nsɛm ne anansesɛmAwufoɔ a wɔnantewAbayisɛm1500 kɔsi 1899

The umkhovu is the Zulu form of the witch's zombie: a body taken from the grave, revived by magic and kept as a familiar. Its tongue is removed so that it cannot speak. Colonial-era writers recorded the belief in the 1870s, half a century before The Magic Island popularised the Haitian zombi. It belongs to the same family as the zombie beliefs reported from South Africa in the late 20th century.1

Fa ko
Wɔdii kan kyerɛw
1875
Described in D. Leslie's Among the Zulus (1875)
Mfiase
Zulu
South Africa
Deɛ ɛde ba
Abayisɛm
A witch or wizard digs up a corpse and brings it back to life as a familiar.
Sɛnea wobɛdane bi
A dead person exhumed and revived by a witch.
Nyansa
Adwene nni mu

Ɛberɛ bɛn na ɛdii kan puee?

Tete wiaseMfinimfini Mmerɛ1500 kɔsi 18991900 kɔsi 19671968 kɔsi 19992000 kɔsi 20092010 kɔsi ɛnnɛ1875

Described in D. Leslie's Among the Zulus (1875)

nhwehwɛmu nsɛm

Deɛ fibea no ka

1

The Zulu word means an exhumed corpse revived as a witch's servant1

2

The witch cuts out its tongue, so that it can only make a wailing sound1

3

English writers of the 19th century rendered the plural as 'Esemkofu'1

4

H. Rider Haggard used them in his Zulu novel Nada (1895), haunting a 'Ghost Mountain'1

5

The Dictionary of South African English records the term from 1875 to 19251

Fibea

  1. Esemkofu - Dictionary of South African English

Asɛm biara a ɛwɔ krataafa yi so fi saa fibea yi mu, na yɛde yɛn ankasa nsɛm na akyerɛw. Wohunuu mfomsoɔ bi? Ka kyerɛ yɛn wɔ [email protected].

Ma dɔm no aduane. Dawurubɔ nni hɔ, trackers nni hɔ, onipa baako na ɔtua ho ka. Akyɛdeɛ ma ɛkɔ so wɔ intanɛt so.Ma akyɛdeɛ

Tete nsɛm a efi nsase koro no ara so

South African witchcraft zombieSouth African (Tsonga, Sotho, Venda)

Berɛ koro: 1500 kɔsi 1899

JiangshiChinese, 1789Zombi (Haitian)Haitian (Vodou folklore), 1750StrigoiRomanian, 1714Vampir (South Slavic)South Slavic (Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Bosnian), 1725AbhartachIrish, 1870Arnold PaoleSerbian, 1732
Ma dɔm no aduaneMa akyɛdeɛ