{"id":"MARKK1937-001","label":"Baxananwa sebubu, a big toy","people_or_site":"Baxananwa (Bahananwa), northern Transvaal","country_current":"South Africa","historic_region":"Northern Transvaal (Blouberg / Blauwberg), now Limpopo","macroregion":"Africa / Southern Africa","local_name":"sebubu","source_term":"Gr. Schwirrholz (Kinderspielzeug)","source_language":"German","object_description":"One large bullroarer; materials and dimensions not recorded.","function_summary":"A children's toy.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"markk_37_79_1_baxananwa_sebubu","source_type":"museum_collection","source_url":"https://markk-hamburg.de/files/media/2020/06/MARKK-AF-ab-1921.pdf","page_or_plate":"MARKK inventory PDF p. 261, 37.79:1; van Warmelo 1935 p. 44","map_confidence":"low_medium","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Blouberg (Limpopo; Nominatim): van Warmelo 1935 p. 44 lists the baXananwa under chief Mmaleboxo (Malaboch) in Blauwberg district; the museum names Transvaal and the people, not a village.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Sebubu was a big bullroarer, and among the Baxananwa of the northern Transvaal it belonged to the children. Their country lay around the Blouberg, a long mountain rising out of the bushveld. In 1894 the Baxananwa chief Mmaleboxo, whom the Boers called Malaboch, held that mountain through a siege of months against the army of the Transvaal republic before he was taken prisoner on 31 July. Forty-three years later a sebubu travelled to Hamburg.","pull_quote":"","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"","term_gloss":"sebubu: the Baxananwa name for a large bullroarer; no gloss is given. Baxananwa: older spelling of Bahananwa (Hananwa), with x for the guttural h.","cls":"play_practical","class_label":"Play / practical","color":"#24766D","is_candidate":false,"flags":["toy_survival"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK), Hamburg, Sammlungs-Datenbank Afrika ab 1921, inv. 37.79:1","url":"https://markk-hamburg.de/files/media/2020/06/MARKK-AF-ab-1921.pdf"},{"citation":"N. J. van Warmelo, A Preliminary Survey of the Bantu Tribes of South Africa (Pretoria, 1935), p. 44","url":"https://emandulo.apc.uct.ac.za/collection/FHYA%20Depot/Books%20and%20Published%20Records/van_warmelo_nj_1935_bantu_tribes.pdf"},{"citation":"South African History Online, 'Chief Malaboch (Mmalebôho, Mmalebôxo), chief of the Xananwa people, surrenders to Comdt-Gen. Piet Joubert'","url":"https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0088957"}],"source_citations":"Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK), Hamburg, Sammlungs-Datenbank Afrika ab 1921, inv. 37.79:1; N. J. van Warmelo, A Preliminary Survey of the Bantu Tribes of South Africa (Pretoria, 1935), p. 44; South African History Online, 'Chief Malaboch (Mmalebôho, Mmalebôxo), chief of the Xananwa people, surrenders to Comdt-Gen. Piet Joubert'","source_display":"Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK), Hamburg, Sammlungs-Datenbank Afrika ab 1921, inv. 37.79:1; N. J. van Warmelo, A Preliminary Survey of the Bantu Tribes of South Africa (Pretoria, 1935), p. 44; South African History Online, 'Chief Malaboch (Mmalebôho, Mmalebôxo), chief of the Xananwa people, surrenders to Comdt-Gen. Piet Joubert'","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"One large bullroarer; materials and dimensions not recorded.","function_display":"A children's toy.","confidence_display":"low to medium","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"baxananwa","display_name":"Baxananwa sebubu, a big toy","image":{"full":"assets/objects/prm/prm_39577.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/prm/thumbs/prm_39577_thumb.jpg","alt":"Tapering wooden blade with a painted zigzag border and bound cord.","credit":"© Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (acc. 1933.57.9)","license":"© Pitt Rivers Museum — non-commercial/educational reuse with attribution","source_page":"https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39577","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"Tapering wooden blade with a painted zigzag border and bound cord","pool_id":"auto-prm--prm_39577","auto_assigned":true,"last_modified":"2026-10-19"},"slug":"markk1937-001-baxananwa-bahananwa-northern-transvaal"}