udemzyudex:
Lol...seriously,when it comes to anything cult,mermaid things etc even Benin dey learn when it comes to those stuff.. Except say if them don dey repent .

Cross River ehn..lol

That was my fear about Ikom.

.

OrlandoOwoh:
That was my fear about Ikom.

Lol... Guess christanity has taken over that place,so no too much involvement in such things.

Those insibidi pictures look fraudulent and unoriginal. Where did nsibidi see fork, knife and spoon or mirrors considering the age of such writings.

baby124: Those insibidi pictures look fraudulent and unoriginal. Where did nsibidi see fork, knife and spoon or mirrors considering the age of such writings.

It is you that lacks common sense. You think knives, forks and spoons are recent inventions? Where did English see words like computer and aeroplane considering the age of the English language? Writing scripts are dynamic and flexible not static.

Rossikki: It is you that lacks common sense. You think knives, forks and spoons are recent inventions? Where did English see words like computer and aeroplane considering the age of the English language? Writing scripts are dynamic and flexible not static.

You are the biggest fool. You think with your yansh. No we did not have fork and knife for eating. Only Spoon at the most. Anything close to a knife would have been something spear like for wars.which is shown in the writings. Soon they will add guns and you will come and tell me dumb ass tales about who invented guns. Buhahaha. Low thinking insect like you. Fork and knife for eating is a foreign influence.

JideTheBlogger:

I tire oo

Oga Jide I trust you, very soon now, you will upload link on how to Decode Nsibidi writing on ya blog .

.

baby124:
You are the biggest fool. You think with your yansh. No we did not have fork and knife for eating. Only Spoon at the most. Anything close to a knife would have been something spear like for wars.which is shown in the writings. Soon they will add guns and you will come and tell me dumb ass tales about who invented guns. Buhahaha. Low thinking insect like you. Fork and knife for eating is a foreign influence.

Please return to the kitchen where you really belong. Or in the toilet giving someone head. Not among men discussing things beyond your tiny brain. I suppose we cannot have representations of objects or concepts that are supposedly foreign to us in our written scripts. Says a dunderhead, illiterate dunce like you. Thankfully someone has already corrected you, though I doubt he'll make any impact on your dumbitude.

Rossikki: Please return to the kitchen where you really belong. Or in the toilet giving someone head. Not among men discussing things beyond your tiny brain. I suppose we cannot have representations of objects or concepts that are supposedly foreign to us in our written scripts. Says a dunderhead, illiterate dunce like you. Thankfully someone has already corrected you, though I doubt he'll make any impact on your dumbitude.

Yawn. Does not change the fact that the pic is fraudulent

I would like to learn how to write it. It would be some good extra curricular activity. This writing system should not die. Now if only our governors are interested in actually preserving culture. Culture is not only about ceremony, people wearing uniforms to dance at some Igbo union as it is today. This should be preserved and improved upon.

Izunwa:
Oga Jide I trust you, very soon now, you will upload link on how to Decode Nsibidi writing on ya blog .

lol....na bad market for Adsense na. So, no need

[b][/b]

kingzjay: This form of writing originates from the Efiks (In the present day Cross River State) and some parts of Akwa Ibom State.

Its a special kind of writing system used by the Ekpe Community (A unique/colourful masquerade) in communicating between persons who were members of the Ekpe society.

Its still in existence till date.

you are dead right. The efiks use this language and its mostly the ekpe society that utilizes it. Most people that understand its writing and interpretation are getting extinguished. When the ekpe masquerade is making its rounds we use the nsibidi to detain a masquerade from other villages as the masquerade cannot cross until the answer is provided. I know a bit of the language as written and use it when i can. The communities that know ekpe must have a bit of understanding of the language. The efiks own ekpe and the aros have that affiliation with the efiks. I am from Arochukwu.

Great topic. i too just found out abt nsibidi in a novel i just read. Thought we never had written traditions, only oral culture.

would love to learn it

Nsibidi is an ancient form of writing and is only taught to the initiates of traditional societies like the Ekpo, Ekpe , etc. To learn it, u must be an initiate in those societies
.

nexstorm: We never kept dates and record of events, research and all transferable knowledge .that's Black Man for you. But what saddens me is the idea of throwing away our own works and understanding For another mans knowledge instead of merging it.. Now we have a problem of doing it our own way and we are finding it difficult.. And about the Topic, it was a writing system for a particular set of people who would be refered to as cult.cos they agreed to the same thing.But I think it wasn't generally accepted..*pls note, its my opinion*

Really? So then what is this?

ITbomb: The highly placed people and intellectuals belonged to the Ekpo society as the then authority.

So it was not surprising when the first missionaries saw the demystification of Ekpo society and all its values as a foothold to capture the hearts of the locals.
Displaying a superior lifestyle and equipments (wine and guns inclusive) , they convinced the locals that if they want to be like them, they should send their children to be educated by them.
By that singular concession by the then leaders, the next generation was lost to the white men and subsequently the whole culture and values systematically debased by the white men as diabolic and eradicated while they imposed their history and writing on the locals.

Not surprising that one of the first group of ethnic group in Nigeria to get 'Written Words' carefully crafted out from the English alphabets was the Efik as that was the best means to displaced the already existing form of writing.

Nsibidii, lost forever while we grumble with half knowledge and misinformation (worse than to be uninformed)

What was superior?

baby124:
You are the biggest fool. You think with your yansh. No we did not have fork and knife for eating. Only Spoon at the most. Anything close to a knife would have been something spear like for wars.which is shown in the writings. Soon they will add guns and you will come and tell me dumb ass tales about who invented guns. Buhahaha. Low thinking insect like you. Fork and knife for eating is a foreign influence.

*sigh*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsibidi

The origin is from the old Cross River States especially among the Ekpe society, Ekpo Society and the Nnabor cult. The Ekpe society is the traditional society/play of the Efik, Ekoi, Uruan and the Oro people. The Ekpo Society/Masquerade is famous among the people in old Cross River States (Efik, Ibibio, Annang, Oro, Ekoi etc) while Nnabor is famous among the Efik and the Oro people. The common thing about these society is that they only initiates the male folks, they all use the nsibidi writing codes (although the Nnabor and the Ekpe societies are more proficient in it). The nsibidi writing code was also used to summon the angel of death which was also known by the same name "nsibidi". The code is also said to be very mystical. I also heard that the nsibidi writing code was used as one of the tools for settlement whenever there was a disagreement between members of a particular society or two different societies where the culprits involved would be asked to challenge themselves in coding/decoding the nsibidi code. The penalty for whoever that lost was usually death penalty or heavy fine.

I think the traditional rulers from these region (especially the Efik, Ekoi and Oro) can give clearer view on this matter. I would want to believe as someone has already said that the code has been adulterated and it is even laughable that someone is interpreting the code to mean peoples names.

agamenon: Pls audience,let us not politicized this.nsibidi is even used in some Caribbean nations up till Today due to slave trade,that writing has been restricted to native doctors due to westernization of our society's Jamaica ,what they call Dibia ie native doctor and this applies to Haiti,Dominican republic etc, and in igbo. Language it is still called dibia.again be aware that the first slave revolution was lead by an Igbo dibia in haiti by name MR T BOOKMAN and this resulted into granting of independence to Haitti.

He was not Igbo. Haitian Voodoo is more similar to Yoruba, Fon, Ewe,etc.

The picture someone posted showing the language is not accurate please. my father is a chief and a village head in cross river, Calabar, ( Efik) to be precise and understands nsibidi and still playfully does some of the languages when the Ekpe masquerade comes to our house during the festive period to pay homage, and he tries to teach some to us and interpret a few meanings to us. So I would say that it is not really a big deal, just some ancient ways our fore fathers used in communicating back then before the Europeans came with civilization. he still tried to teach us the real deep efik language not the diluted ones we all speak today but its a bit hard to learn and since its no longer in serious use, I don't really bother. besides, the ekpe society is not only for men but the ladies too but the lady in question has to be a true blood not mixed blood. e.g both parents have to be from the efik tribe, not one parent being efik and the other Yoruba or Igbo or any other tribe. however, they have different levels at which you can attain in the ekpe and the lady can never reach the same level as the boy. the boy has no limitation but the lady has. the boy can get to a level called ( Efamba ) but the lady can never get to the efamba level. ( speaking from full experience and knowledge).

dazzle37: The picture someone posted showing the language is not accurate please. my father is a chief and a village head in cross river, Calabar, ( Efik) to be precise and understands nsibidi and still playfully does some of the languages when the Ekpe masquerade comes to our house during the festive period to pay homage, and he tries to teach some to us and interpret a few meanings to us. So I would say that it is not really a big deal, just some ancient ways our fore fathers used in communicating back then before the Europeans came with civilization. he still tried to teach us the real deep efik language not the diluted ones we all speak today but its a bit hard to learn and since its no longer in serious use, I don't really bother. besides, the ekpe society is not only for men but the ladies too but the lady in question has to be a true blood not mixed blood. e.g both parents have to be from the efik tribe, not one parent being efik and the other Yoruba or Igbo or any other tribe. however, they have different levels at which you can attain in the ekpe and the lady can never reach the same level as the boy. the boy has no limitation but the lady has. the boy can get to a level called ( Efamba ) but the lady can never get to the efamba level. ( speaking from full experience and knowledge).

Are you aware of weather it is possible to communicate or write names with this system? There was a sample provided on wikipedia but someone pointed out that the seismographic properties should make such a thing impossible.

dazzle37: just some ancient ways our fore fathers used in communicating back then before the Europeans came with civilization.

How can you civilize an civilization?

[quote author=kingston277]
Are you aware of weather it is possible to communicate or write names with this system? There was a sample provided on wikipedia but someone pointed out that the seismographic properties should make such a thing impossible.


Like I pointed out in the first line of my sentence, I already said that the picture posted was not accurate and yes it is possible to write names and even make a full sentence with Nsibidi if you understand it and know what you are saying, but it is mostly by hand signs like communicating with sign language to a deaf and dump only that in nsibidi, the sign means a totally different thing from the normal deaf and dump sign language. it helped our forefathers then to communicate with each other from a distance without necessarily shouting on top of their voices.

[b]How can you civilize an civilization?[/[/b]quote]

I don't understand what you are trying to ask here pls explain further.

Nice topic. I think I support Nsibidi's Efik or Ibibio origin. Then I think Igbo sub-groups around those tribes would have assimilated that aspect of their culture due to interaction. Like the picture

nsibiri was a writing system used by people in the cross river basin that's the Aros,annangs,Ibibios,efiks and ekois..
it consisted mainly of ideograms and was used mainly by secret organizations.all it needs is to be refined and adopted by Igbos as their national skript.due to the fact it was used by leopard societies, neo nsibirists call it AKA AGU meaning the "leopard hand"

cooljude: I just read this topic on Wikipedea. seriously, i feel curious, i need to see a person who could intereprete or probably teach me. Its high time we change our educational system to fit our society. Why would we have experts in english language and we don't have any in our own written language. Some people would still continue saying Africa don't have any History or intellectual.

then get ready to be initiated,cos without it,u cant learn it anywhere.

dazzle37: Like I pointed out in the first line of my sentence, I already said that the picture posted was not accurate

You meant this?

I may not be in proper order from whatever calabsh it was copied down from but it is legit from a man named Macgregor in the 20th century:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nsibidi

and yes it is possible to write names and even make a full sentence with Nsibidi if you understand it and know what you are saying, but it is mostly by hand signs like communicating with sign language to a deaf and dump only that in nsibidi, the sign means a totally different thing from the normal deaf and dump sign language. it helped our forefathers then to communicate with each other from a distance without necessarily shouting on top of their voices.

You know what? I came across another person on a wiki talk page that was arguing about the same thing:

Onuaha(a boy's name)

Wikipedia Talk: Already the effect of Europe is being felt on nsibidi, and it is urgent that as speedily as possible the collection of the signs should be completed. It came as a painful surprise to me one day when Onuaha brought me this sign and told me that a boy of his own name had given him it that day (I was in Umon at the time) and said that it was the nsibidi for Onuaha. The first two signs are corruptions of the English capital letters N and A whilst the third sign is distinctly reminiscent of more than one nsibidi character.' — J. K. Macgregor (1909)

The script had evolved (with influence) which ticks the boxes that Christoph Päper noted that some linguistics laid out as the conditions for writing: "Also, since the line is often hard to draw, many scholars include pictographic or ideographic symbols under the notion of writing, if (and only if) they’re retained in a later writing system".
Wholly ideographic scripts do not write peoples names. Ukabia - talk 00:01, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
Uh, Ukabia, you do understand that Macgregor's fear was that this was *not* nsibidi, don't you? That is was a corruption caused by the influence of the English alphabet? As you say, wholly ideographic scripts do not write peoples' names: and it appears nsibidi requires an external alphabet to manage this. — kwami (talk) 01:46, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

What Macgregor said was that nsibidi is being corrupted, not that this is not nsibidi. Macgregor said two out of the three signs were corruptions of English letters. What is the last sign which he described as "distinctly reminiscent of more than one nsibidi character", an ideograph, for a name? By the way, did you note the use of the word character which you removed from the nsibidi article because, in your opinion, nsibidi isn't writing and therefore can't use the word?
The (supposed) influence of European text itself doesn't explain how somebody who is literate in nsibidi and not fully in English letters would understand the concept of using symbols to write their name; if they are just mistaking English letters for nsibidi, how can this be when:
"nsibidi is not writing" and cannot be mistaken, because that would be like mistaking road signs for Latin.
nsibidi is completely ideographic so who told the boy he could write his name in nsibidi if the third symbol is uncorrupted nsibidi?
on another note, why would Elphinstone Dayrell (Further Notes on 'Nsibidi Signs with Their Meanings from the Ikom District, Southern Nigeria., 1911, pg. 528) call the sign for nsibidi "Nsibidi name written"? Again, complete ideographs cannot write names, and a name for a writing system is certainly not ideographic. Ukabia - talk 02:57, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

My question is, how does nsibidi go about writing names? Since nsibidi is and ideographic system, such a thing should make that impossible but apparently it IS possible.
If nsibidi symbols can express itself as well as spoken alnguage, that would not only make it the worlds first discovered true seismographic writing system, but debunk this man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_DeFrancis

I don't understand what you are trying to ask here pls explain further.

Igboland(as was most of Africa) was home to several ancient civilizations including nri, awo, etc. How can you civilize a civilization?

blesoh:
then get ready to be initiated,cos without it,u cant learn it anywhere.

No P. I don't believe in the spiritual part, but i obviously want to learn the writting. During the early ages, that was how they view academicians. So i would not mind joining.

cooljude: No P. I don't believe in the spiritual part, but i obviously want to learn the writting. During the early ages, that was how they view academicians. So i would not mind joining.

ok,dats fyn

kingston277:
Really? So then what is this?

. Looks like keshi's tactic during the just concluded world game.

Anyone hear of the ndebe script?

@ nexstorm

Wikipedia: 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.

Illiterates on here are boasting about superiority/enlightenment over their forefathers?
I laugh in twi.