Listen to the pronunciation
| What is this? | Pipe |
| isiZulu Name | Ipipi |
| isiXhosa Name | Ukuthi sisabetha inqawe |
| English Name | Pipe |
| Which cultural group created this? | Zulu |
| Who made this? | Not yet documented. |
| When was it made? | Not yet documented. |
| Where was it made? | Probably KwaZulu-Natal |
| Measurements | 12 cm (H) x 23.5 cm (L) |
| How was it made and what is it made of? | Carved in wood. Stem made of sterling silver (and bone?). |
| What colour is it? | Body: Brown and orande Stem: yellow-green and silver |
| What sound does it make? | Not yet documented. |
| Physical description | Gigantic wooden pipe in the shape of a tree trunk. Bowl and stem are carved in one piece. Bone stem-socket. Bit is made of metal. Small mouth carved in the centre of the tree’s rings. |
| Where is it now? | Iziko Museum, Cape Town, South Africa Museum ID: 97-151 Accessioned on 20/03/1997 (donation) Accession No. 97/151 |
| How did it get there? | Donated to Iziko Museum by Mrs. Marlene Kotzen on March 20, 1997. |
| Why is it important? | Massive wooden pipe carved in one piece. Mostly used and wore by older men for old-style smoking of tobacco and marijuana. Due to the pipe’s size, it is possible it would have been made for a certain type of ceremony for and in relation to the ancestors, smoked in groups, and added the marijuana to ritual spirits. Possibly used by the Rastafarian in groups or by a specific person (like a leader or a king). Pipes arrived in South Africa with the Dutch settlers. In the olden days, marijuana pipes were made with dry gourds, drilling boreholes from two ends. One end was connected to the vessel where they would fit the marijuana, and the other was used as the mouth. When smoking, they put water in the gourd, so when they inhaled, the marijuana had to go through that water to cleanse it and reduce its strength. Zulu armies used it before going to war to gather energy by opening their lungs to walk faster. And by messengers and intelligence people that took messages from one district to another. They used to carry a gourd so that they could run faster between mountains. It was also good for people with asthma. Amabutho normally smoked in groups so that they could rotate the gourd age-wise. Next to the KwaZulu government’s former capital, within king Mpande (father to king Cetshwayo)’s palace, there was a little stream where the warriors could go and smoke before going into the palace. According to the Zulu tradition, it was not allowed to smoke marijuana or ganja inside the homestead. The police station is still named emagodweni in honour to the place where those scouts used to sit and smoke their ganja before going into the king’s palace. |
| Notes | Not yet. |
| References | Amagugu Ethu Workshop, Recording STE033: Thulisiwe Mtshali Amagugu Ethu Workshop, Recording STE034: Wilfred Mchunu, Thulani Thusi, Skhumbuzo Miya and Boyzie Myeni Iziko Museum Catalogue Card 97_151 |
| Who described this? | Described during the Amagugu Ethu Workshop by Thulisiwe Mtshali, Wilfred Mchunu, Thulani Thusi, Skhumbuzo Miya and Boyzie Myeni. Described for the website by Clara Giménez-Delgado (August 18, 2020). |