article
Place of 'oaths' in the constitutional set-up of Asante
Law and anthropology • 4 • Published In 1989 • Pages: 259-280
By: Mensa-Bonsu, Henrietta J..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Mensa-Bonsu discusses the important role of oath swearing in Asante society. There are two kinds of oaths, religious (NSE) and secular (NTAM). In the religious oath supernatural sanction is invoked by calling a god to bear witness to the truth of one's act. In the secular oath a reference is made to a historical calamity, such as an untimely death of a leader, which impacted on a clan or the whole nation. Each ntam is associated with the stool of a chief or king. In order not to displease his ancestors, the king or chief must inquire into the reason for swearing the oath and to adjudicate the matter. Mensa-Bonsu discusses various kinds of ntam and the role they play in judicial, executive, and military processes.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Social control
- Territorial hierarchy
- Form and rules of government
- Chief executive
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Avoidance and taboo
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Akan
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2000
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Unknown
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ;1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- Not Specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1700-1900
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Ashanti; Ghana
- NotesAdditional notes
- Henrietta J. Mensa-Bonsu
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 88644908
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Akan (African people)