Abstract
Abyssinian Games. In the course of two expeditions to Abyssinia (1928-29 and 1932), M. Marcel Griaule collected notes on more than four hundred games and recreations of the Abyssinians, of which he has published a selection (Bibliotheque de l'Scole des Hautes Etudes: Sciences religieuses, 49, Paris, Lib. Leroux, 75 fr.). They range from games involving the use of simple musical instruments and simple apparatus such as tops, balls, string, etc., to singing and dancing, games, rhyming, riddles and animal tales. Many of the games have a divinatory character, and it is noted that there is throughout Abyssinia a strong belief in the efficacy of children as agents of divination. Certain general principles are to be observed in the collection of games in Abyssinia. Between one district and another there may be a marked difference in the games played, or the rules of the same game may differ widely. The areas within which any variation obtains may be very restricted. In part this is due to the numerous strata of the peoples who have penetrated the country, and also to the consistent policy of the Abyssinians in enslaving and transporting peoples socially less highly organised than themselves. Further, the geographical configuration of the country is responsible for some variation, especially in those games which make use of plants. The high plateaux with their relatively cold climate are split up by low-lying valleys with a climate which varies rapidly in narrow zones from the relatively cold of the heights to tropical in the low-lying parts. The vegetation varies accordingly and with it the character of the games in which it has a function. The variation of climate may also affect the character of the games in other ways. It is, therefore, not sufficient to study the games as distributed by provinces. Their investigation must be highly localised. A further discrimination must be exercised in accordance with the season; and in others the age and sex of the players has to be noted. The solemnity with which some of the games are played, and occasionally their long duration, as in the taboos of Careme, leave it beyond doubt that their origin is religious or magical.
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Research Items. Nature 135, 841–842 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135841a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135841a0