Robert Farris Thompson glosses the
Ekoid word
nsibidi as translating to "cruel letters", from
sibi "bloodthirsty". The context is the use of the symbols by the Mgbe and Ekpe society in the Old Calabar slave traders who had established a "lavish system of human sacrifice". In old Cross River region, Nsibidi is mostly associated with the Ejagham men’s Mgbe society and later the Ekpe men’s society.
Origin The origin of Nsibidi is now generally attributed to the
Ekoi or Ejagham people of the Northern Cross River, though in the 1900s J. K. Macgregor recorded a native tradition attributing it to the Uguakima or Uyanga section of the
Igbo people. A few years later, the anthropologist was unable to verify the tradition recorded by Macgregor and concluded that the claims of the Ekoi to have created the system were more plausible.
Status Nsibidi has a wide vocabulary of signs usually imprinted on calabashes, brass ware, textiles, wood sculptures, masquerade costumes, buildings and on human skin. Nsibidi has been described as a "fluid system" of communication consisting of hundreds of abstract and pictographic signs. In the colonial era, Nsibidi was characterized by Talbot as "a kind of primitive secret writing", with Talbot explaining that it was used for messages "cut or painted on split palm stems". Macgregor's view was that "The use of nsibidi is that of ordinary writing. I have in my possession a copy of the record of a court case from a town of Enion [Enyong] taken down in it, and every detail ... is most graphically described". Nsibidi crossed ethnic lines and was a uniting factor among ethnic groups in the Cross River region.
Uses : carved mahogany doors covered in Nsibidi symbolism and
Christian iconography in
Aba, Nigeria Nsibidi spread to other parts of Nigeria, especially the Igbos, who are neighbors to the old Calabar people (the
Efik,
Ibibio and
Annang).
Court cases – "Ikpe" Nsibidi was used in judgement cases known as 'Ikpe' in Enion, an Igbo subgroup, according to Macgregor, who was able to retrieve and translate an Nsibidi record of an ikpe judgement. The record is of an Ikpe or judgement case. (a) The court was held under a tree as is the custom, (b) the parties in the case, (c) the chief who judged it, (d) his staff (these are enclosed in a circle), (e) is a man whispering into the ear of another just outside the circle of those concerned, (f) denotes all the members of the party who won the case. Two of them (g) are embracing, (h) is a man who holds a cloth between his finger and thumbs as a sign of contempt. He does not care for the words spoken. The lines round and twisting mean that the case was a difficult one which the people of the town could not judge for themselves. So they sent to the surrounding towns to call the wise men from them and the case was tried by them (j) and decided; (k) denotes that the case was one of adultery or No. 20. Ukara can be worn as a wrapper (a piece of clothing) on formal occasions, and larger version are hung in society meeting houses and on formal occasions. Ukara motifs are designed in white and are placed on grids set against an indigo background. Some of the designs include abstract symbols representing the Ekpe society such as repeating triangles representing the leopard's claws and therefore Ekpe's power. Ukara includes naturalistic designs representing objects such as gongs, feathers and manilla currency, a symbol of wealth. Powerful animals are included, specifically the leopard and crocodile. Nsibidi symbols were also featured in its sequel,
Wakanda Forever. ==Examples of Nsibidi==