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Drinking the Word    of God Introduction The Towns of Zinder and Bondoukou • Zinder • Bondoukou The Production of Writing Water Education and Scholarship in Zinder and Bondoukou • Education • Scholarship Health, Well-Being and the Talismanic Tradition • Erasure: Writing Water • Talismans • Special Prayers Resources for Further Study Acknowledgements Comments

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The Production of Writing Water


Scholars produce writing water by writing a verse from the Qur'an or other religious text on a wooden tablet which is then washed into a bowl. The person making the request then drinks the writing water. By "drinking the word of God" an individual internalizes the text and thus introduces into the body. In addition to drinking writing water, people also bathe with it or use it to wash objects.

In this series of photos we observe Malam Adamou Amadou preparing writing water, or nassi-ji as it is known in the Dyula language, in the village of Sapli, near Bondoukou.

Malam Adamou writing inscription on wood board.		The completed inscription.
Malam Adamou washing the inscription from the board into a plastic basin.		Decanting the writing water in an empty aspirin bottle.
The writing water in aspirin bottle. (It is a coincidence that the bottle used to hold this spiritual medicine, used to hold a Western-derived medicine.)		Not wanting to waste any of the writing water, Malam Adamou wipes the water over his head.

Health, Well-Being and the Talismanic Tradition

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