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Illustration of Umkhovu
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
Fayl No. 057 diga 446

Umkhovu

Wi'aama fahin: imikhovu, esemkofu, esimkovu
Haala e tuugnorgalMaayɓe yaaɗooɓeSihiru1500 haa 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

Haɓdu e mo
Artii winndaago
1875
Described in D. Leslie's Among the Zulus (1875)
Ƴiiɗal
Zulu
Afrik-Worgo
Ko waɗi ɗum
Sihiru
A witch or wizard digs up a corpse and brings it back to life as a familiar.
No a wonata gooto
A dead person exhumed and revived by a witch.
Hakkiilo
Walaa hakkiilo

Ndey ɗum artii hollugo?

Aduna ɓiɗɗo
Jamaanu Hakkunde
1500 haa 1899
1900 haa 1967
1968 haa 1999
2000 haa 2009
2010 haa ñalnde hannde
1875

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

winndaa ɗo nokku

Ko sorsi ɗin mbi'i

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

Sorsi

  1. Esemkofu - Dictionary of South African English

Ko fuu e sondol ɗoo ƴiiɗi diga sorsi ɗin, winndaama e kuuɗe amen. A yi'i juumre? Haala min e [email protected].

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Haala diga leydi gooto

Jamaanu gooto: 1500 haa 1899