The Bullroarer Atlas

MUS2026-176 - museum specimen

Fali of Bao / Tinguelin

Bao - Tinguelin - Benoue - northern Cameroon - Africa

Restricted

Representative—not this record’s object: Central African corded bullroarer, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object...
Representative—not this record’s object: Central African corded bullroarer, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object is available yet. © The Trustees of the British Museum (E/Af1913-0712-7) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Image source

Tadogbel French / Fali term

Source term: Rhombe

Tadogbel: Fali vernacular name catalogued for the Bao/Tinguelin rhombe; no literal gloss recovered

At Bao, the iron Tadogbel sounded at elders' funerals and during initiation. The surviving blade is only eleven centimetres long, a small metal voice set apart from the wooden Uni used by Fali boys elsewhere when the red millet began to ripen.

Sert pour les enterrements des vieux et au cours de l'initiation.

Used at elders' funerals and during initiation.

Musee du quai Branly object 71.1938.46.677
Object
Thin pointed iron blade, 11 x 1.9 x 0.3 cm and 16 g, with a narrow terminal neck or lug; no cord survives in the exact photograph.
Function
Used at elders' funerals and during initiation.
Map confidence
low - Tinguelin massif anchor; historical Bao/Baou entries in Benoue conflict, so this is not claimed as the exact village point.
Source location
object 71.1938.46.677; before 1938

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