COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Sieraden en andere kostbaarheden getoond door de raja van Anakalang Sumba TMnr 60002196

Madaka, also written as mendaka, is a type of precious metal valuable to the

Sumba people The Sumba (or Sumbese) people are an ethnic group inhabiting Sumba Island in Indonesia, which is divided by two regencies, namely West Sumba Regency and East Sumba Regency. They refer to themselves as Tau Humba. The Sumbese have been able to ret ...

Sumba Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...

Island,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is found in the

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

culture of the western Sumba people, e.g. the tribe of Anakalang. Of all precious metal valuable to Sumba people, the madaka is considered to be the most sacred type of gold heirloom.

Form and evolution

Madaka have the shape best described as scalloped lumps. According to some Sumbanese people, the madaka was a stylized

naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...

dragon: the radiating spokes are said to represent the spine of the ''naga'', and the opening its mouth. Anakalang elders explained that the madaka was the most archaic and sacred of all gold heirlooms of Sumba. Some madaka date back five or six centuries. Madaka have been presented by the ancient rulers of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

as tokens of high office. The shape is a variation of another Sumba ornament called the

mamuli Mamuli are precious metal ornaments of the Sumba people, Sumba, Indonesia. They are found in the megalithic society of the western Sumba people, e.g. the Anakalang society. The mamuli ornaments have a shape which represents the female genitali ...

, with a row of radiating spokes surrounding a hole and a slit in the middle. In the case of the mamuli, the shape represents female genitalia and symbolizes female sexuality and the ability of women to create life. The archaic omega-shaped form of both mamuli and madaka is also known as "open oval". In the case of the madaka, one of the two finials (which are on each side of the bottom slit) protrudes further than the other. This is comparable with other open oval forms found in the

Indonesian archipelago The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. History ...

, e.g. the ''duri-duri'' of the Batak, far west in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. Modern madaka made of low carat gold with rough work are sold for the tourist market. These madaka objects are usually carved with fanciful additions of animals or human figures as an attempt to increase interest and price.

Function

The madaka of Sumba are used as a kind of heirloom object that was accumulated by the clan leader through time and mostly kept in the interior. Together with other heirloom objects e.g. the marangga and the mamuli, madaka are kept in the attic of the noble's uma mbatangu or the traditional Sumbanese peaked house. They are brought into the light only during ritual occasions and under the control of the village priests. The madaka is instrumental in marriage ceremonies, as it is one of the many objects. The madaka is given to the wife-taker from the family of the wive-giver.

References

Cited works

* * {{refend Types of jewellery Jewellery components Necklaces Sumba Archaeological artefact types Archaeology of Indonesia

Form and evolution

Function

See also

References

Cited works