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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

20 Feb

Iron has a very long history in Uganda, as it does in the larger Great Lakes region. For a long time, historians argued that iron smelting-smithing developed first among Bantu statebuilders, offering them an advantage in clearing land, producing food, and organizing war. 1/19

‘Iron Smelting’. Uganda Photographs, c. 1897 – 1903 EEPA 1998-002-0016 Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution. 2/19

Much of the existing evidence, though, now shows that Nilo-Saharan communities most likely developed iron-smithing first; later borrowed by Bantu speakers. Archaeological evidence suggests that iron use became common in the interlacustrine region around 500 BCE. 3/19

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

19 Feb

More on canoes. Hamu Mukasa had a life-long interest in boats. He maintained numerous photographs of them in his private library. Here, we see a few beautiful images from his collection, likely taken between the First & Second World Wars (I think the late 1920s?).

We can see how the government sought to regulate, trace, and tax boat production through the creation of boating licences (notice the numbers on the sides of the boats).

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

18 Feb

@si_africanart

It is my pleasure to begin a short series on Uganda’s precolonial history. Unless indicated otherwise, the images in these posts are used with the kind permission of the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives @si_africanart (citations provided). 1/12

Image 1 (above). No caption. Uganda Photographs, c. 1897 – 1903 EEPA 1998-002-0154 Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution 2/12

The creation & change of canoes in Great Lakes history offer insight into power, mobility, & spiritual authority. As D. Schoenbrun has shown, shrines devoted to canoes began to develop by 1000 CE; & the words used to describe varying canoes had changed by the 12th C. 3/12

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

17 Feb

Uganda has long been called, "The Pearl of Africa." But where did the term originate? A closer examination of the international press shows that Winston Churchill did NOT coin the phrase; he plagiarized it. The term's history is far more complicated—and interesting! 1/7

The nomenclature, "Pearl of Africa," was first used in the German press by 1890: "Perle Afrikas." In the Berlin press, the term was used in the context of Zanzibar as a way to illustrate British and German competition over the region. 2/7

The phrase is then reworked into English. In this 1890 letter, penned by Henry Morton Stanley to the Editor of the Times, we see one of the first occasions when the term was used in the English language (& the connection with German). 3/7

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

16 Feb

As we remember the life and legacy of Janani Luwum, I wish to share some photographs and material from the archives. Luwum's influence was international. He taught British children and shaped the careers and spirituality of religious leaders around the world. #JananiLuwumDay 1/5

@UrbanTVUganda

If you are new to Luwum, here is a beautiful piece by @UrbanTVUganda 2/5

@churchofengland

Here we see Luwum teaching British children and serving as a translator for the Archbishop of Canterbury in Gulu in 1961. @churchofengland. The inauguration of the Province of Uganda would be one of Geoffrey Fisher's last acts as Archbishop. 3/5

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Jonathon L. Earle

@JonathonLEarle

16 Feb

About watches and time in Uganda. Why did watches & clocks become fashionable in Uganda during the early 1900s? 1/7

To my knowledge, no Ugandan had more clocks than Hamu Mukasa. He had 20 pendulum clocks, 1 of which we see in this photograph. Some have argued that this represents the imposition of colonial regimes of time. Others say that it symbolises status. 2/7

I want to propose a new theory. We know that Mukasa played the xylophone (ntaala/madinda), and that he loved music. Each of his 20 pendulum clocks—which he wound himself—were never synchronised. Each of the 20 chimed across a span of around 5 minutes. 3/7

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