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Batak Bark Book
CITATION THUMBNAILS PAGE TURNER PAGE IMAGE ZOOMABLE
Full Citation
STANDARD VIEW MARC VIEW
Permanent Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00000054/00001
Finding Guide: Batak Bark Book
 Material Information
Title: Batak Bark Book
Physical Description: Handwritten and illustrated book made from folded alim tree bark
Language: Batak
 Notes
General Note: Per http://www.rmv.nl/publicaties/6Navigating/e/navigating.pdf : The Batak population of Sumatra consists of six different groups11, one of which is the Toba Batak group. The items on display originated in the Toba Batak community. The priest also used pustaha, books made of the bark of the alim tree, in which Toba Batak sacred knowledge was recorded. The pustaha and the inscribed bamboo containers were used to predict the future and identify auspicious days for religious ceremonies and travel. The priest's role has diminished in modern Batak society but the ritual objects continue to be works of art with great aesthetic value.
General Note: Per http://lw.lsa.umich.edu/umma/exhibits/Batak2009/texts.html : Bark Books (pustaha) : The bark books are made from a strip of the smooth inner bark of the alim tree (Aquilaria malaccensis), which is folded accordion-like to form a number of equal sized leaves. Wooden covers are attached to the first and last leaves; fine specimens may have carved covers and elaborate illustrations in the text, sometimes enlivened by red ink. For the most part, the texts of the bark books address either the art of preserving life or of destroying life. They were written by a datu (sorcerer or priest), for his own use and for transmission to pupils. Thus, the texts usually contain the phrase poda ni, which has been translated as “instructions for” or “relating to the theory of” by Petrus Voorhoeve. Because they contain specialist knowledge, the content of the bark books is often difficult for non-specialists to understand. They are written in a standardized language (called poda language by Voorhoeve) using an archaic Toba Batak dialect which retained many ancient words that were no longer used in spoken language.
General Note: See "Pustaha: A Study into the Production Process of the Batak Book" from: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/btlv/article/viewFile/1767/2528
 Record Information
Source Institution: University of Florida
Holding Location: University of Florida
Rights Management: All rights reserved by the source institution.
Resource Identifier:
System ID: AA00000054:00001



TRACE ROUTE

Total Execution Time: 31 Milliseconds

MILLISECOND   CLASS.METHODMESSAGE
0sobekcm_page_globals.constructor
0sobekcm_page_globals.constructorApplication State validated or built
0sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0sobekcm_page_globals.constructorNavigation Object created from URI query string
0sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0sobekcm_page_globals.display_itemRetrieving item or group information
0sobekcm_page_globals.get_entire_collection_hierarchyRetrieving hierarchy information
0sobekcm_assistant.get_entire_collection_hierarchy
0cached_data_manager.retrieve_item_aggregation
0cached_data_manager.retrieve_item_aggregationFound item aggregation on local cache
0item_aggregation_builder.get_item_aggregationFound 'all' item aggregation in cache
0system.web.ui.page.page_load (ufdc.page_load)
0sobekcm_page_globals.constructor.on_page_load
0html_echo_mainwriter.add_style_referencesAdding style references to HTML
0html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_pageReading the text from the file and echoing back to the output stream
31html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_pageFinished reading and writing the file