Sape...instrument of the Gods of Borneo

• Sape is not even the original name it was called. It was firstly known as sampe' by the Lebu' Kulit Tribe among the Kenyah's race in Kalimantan ,Borneo .Who was the inventor of the instrument. Now people call it sape, sapeh and sampik , it all depend on the reporters spelling. Even so as the instrument being used by people of various ethnic, they have name for it according to their own tongue.
  
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• Who was this historical inventor? His name was called Anye' Selung. Again some writers spell his name as Nyik Selung and Anyik Selong. He was a limping man. He got a high fever for many days. On one particular day he got this strange encounter or rather a dream where he was instructed by spirits to invent the instrument. When he got up he was healed. He then shape this "Jelutung wood" and carved it according to what he was instructed. He used Pineapple leave threat as the strings.

Later the news spread so quickly to the surrounding villages. He was transported to many nearby villages to play the instrument which they believe can heal people of their sicknesses. People would carry him by four because he was limping. The dancing with the music comes much later. Every time when the people have festival or celebration he would be asked to play the instrument. The people would dance "they call it kancet", most commonly called 'ngajat'.

History of Tattooing

History of Tattooing Middle East -Egypt
A little known fact about the Egyptian Culture and Tattooing is that oddly enough that tattoos were worn by only the Egyptian females! Of course in the future, it may be possible that archaeologists may unearth new mummies with proof of tattooed male Egyptian mummies, but to date, the proof states that if you were a woman of Egypt thousands of years ago you and your female counter parts would be the only ones getting tattooed while the males just sat around and watched, perhaps in envy.

An Egyptian mummy known as "Amunet" was discovered in Thebes in 1891. Amunet (The Goddess of Love) was later to be found to be the remains of "The Priestess of Hathor, her time dates back to approximately 2200BC. Decorated with diamond shaped and elliptical dot patterns, groups of linear markings decorating her arms and thighs and a fairly large pattern with a mixture of dots and smaller lines resting below her navel area, this High Priestess and as well "dancer" may have been an inspiration to other dancers and performers of her area. Many other mummies were discovered to have basic renditions of the Goddess Amunet, tattooed upon their own bodies, along with similar linear and circular markings. Although there is no known word or glyph associated with tattooing in our current understanding of the Egyptian language, it must have been important to them as it is rumored that the Egyptians played a major role in the spreading the art of tattooing throughout the area and as well onto the world itself during the days of the Great Pyramid build. Many local and non local laborers and various artisans were traveling to Egypt to take their respective places in the audacious task of building the Pyramids.

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Punan

Punan Bah or Punan is an ethnic group found in Sarawak, Malaysia. They are distinct, unrelated to the Penan and also the other so called Punan found in Kalimantan the Indonesian part of Borneo. Their name stems from two rivers along the banks of which they have been living time immemorial. They do have other names - Mikuang Bungulan or Mikuang and Aveang Buan. But these terms are only used ritually these days.
The Punan (or Punan Bah) have never been nomad. In the old days they base their living on a mixed economy. Swidden agriculture with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc. Hunting especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources are the other important factors in their economy.
However, in the late 1980s many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrating to urban areas such as Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in search of better living. However, they didn't abandon their longhouses altogether. Many would still return home - especially during major festivities such as Harvest Festival / or Bungan festival as it is known among Punan.
Punan is a stratified society of 'laja' (aristocrats), 'panyen' (commoners), and 'lipen' (slaves). This is a fact determine their historical traditions that have been preserved. Just like most of the history of European Middle Ages is linked to and mainly concerned the various ruling monarchs, so are the historical and mythical traditions of Punan closely connected to their rulings aristocrats.

Iban Agressive Expansion(part 4)

by Stephanie Morgan

This glance at relatively recent history has brought out some of the main characteristics of Iban migration. It was in most cases rapid; aggressive; persistent; and successful. It also seems to have been so basic to the Iban outlook on life that there are few cultural and technological traits of their society that do not either necessitate a frequent change of site, facilitate it, or (the exact relationships are hard to trace) even derive from it. Culture and the migratory pressures perhaps evolved together; where this happened, what might be the source land of migration, is itself a problem frequently discussed. As recounted in Mr. Sandin’s book, the earliest people to possess a recognizably Iban culture seem to have been inhabitants of the Kapuas basin in West Kalimantan.

                                               (ignore this pic of me...i just have no idea of what pic to put)

Most probably the curious immigrants from overseas, landing at Merudu Hill and Cape Datu, head some of the traditional Iban genealogies because their descendants married Ibans rather than for any Iban identity of their own; indeed, Derom is curiously linked through his offspring not only with Ibans but with peoples as diverse as Bukitans, Melanaus, and Kelabits.7 Through many similarly misty links (such as those shown in the tusut appended to Mr. Sandin’s book) the line of Iban ancestry seems to go back to men, if they were men, living somewhere in the Middle East (some of them near Mecca) who moved, or whose descendants moved, to Sumatra then to Kalimantan, sometimes by way of Brunei. It is not likely that this outline represents any actual mass movement of population (favourite recourse of early theories, like that of Dr. Hose which derived the Ibans from fighters imported from Sumatra by Malay pirate nobles); but it may be symbolic of the drift of some of the cultural traits which apparently diffused into the Kapuas area, there to be woven by a people of unknown origin into their own style of life, whose shape we can only guess at, with explosive results. The historical processes surrounding the evolution of the Iban ethnic identity can only be viewed through a prism of myth; the commitment to expansion which permeates traditional Iban culture, however much of it may be the result of what it might be used to explain, is far easier to investigate.

...to be continued

*source Tansang Kenyalang GN Mawar