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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?

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 men e [email protected].

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Haala diga leydi gooto

Jamaanu gooto: 1500 haa 1899

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