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Illustration of Umkhovu
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Kayit No. 057 ci 446

Umkhovu

Ñu ngi koy wooye itam: imikhovu, esemkofu, esimkovu
Léeb ak cosaanNéew yu dundaatLiggéeyu dëmm1500 ba 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

Xeexal ko
Jëkk a bindu
1875
Described in D. Leslie's Among the Zulus (1875)
Cosaan
Zulu
Afrig di Sid
Lan moo ko waral
Liggéeyu dëmm
A witch or wizard digs up a corpse and brings it back to life as a familiar.
Naka ngay doone benn
A dead person exhumed and revived by a witch.
Xel
Amul xel

Kañ la jëkk a feeñ?

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

notu gëstu

Li sours yi wax

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

Sours yi

  1. Esemkofu - Dictionary of South African English

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Benn jamono: 1500 ba 1899

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