Nuer Time-Reckoning Author(s): E. E. Evans-Pritchard Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Apr.

, 1939), pp. 189-216 Published by: Edinburgh University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1155085 Accessed: 26/03/2010 04:45
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[ 89]

NUER TIME-RECKONING'
E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD

who have lived amongthe Nuerhave,I suppose, A L Europeans

found difficultyin discussing with them any matter involving an estimate of time. I do not refer to such a simple arrangementas meeting a Nuer at a certain hour on a certain day. The idiomatic technique necessary to effect a meeting is soon learnt, after a few disastershave taught one not to translateEuropean time-reckoning too literally. I refer to conceptualdifferencesmore fundamentalthan for the Nuer those that give rise to such minor misunderstandings, have a differentsense of time to ours. The difference may, at firstsight, appearto be one betweena literary symbols and a verbal system system of time reckonedin mathematical not so reckoned. This is largely true when we comparethe systems, but it is a misleadingobservationwhen we comparethe ways in which individuals use the systems, for Nuer and European alike speak of time in terms of changing social activities and relationships; and, herein lies the difficultyof the Nuer, or the European,thinking in the other's notions of time, because the social activities and structureof from the social activitiesand structureof the the one are very different interestsandthereforedifferent other. They have different time-values. In describingNuer concepts of time we may distinguish between those that are mainly reflections of their relations to environment, which in a broad sense we may call' oecological time ', and those that are reflectionsof their relationsto one anotherin the social structure, time '. All their time-concepts, which we may describeas ' structural it need hardly be said, are social notions, being man-made and referringto successions of events which are of sufficientinterest to the community for them to be noted and related to each other conceptually. Nevertheless, those social activities which directly, or indirectly,concernthe relationsof men with their physicalenvironment are of a differentorder to those social activities which relate men
I Acknowledgements are made to the Government of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and to the LeverhulmeResearchFellowships Committee.

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NUER TIME-RECKONING

structurallyto one another and time has therefore two movements, or moral, an oecological, or occupational,movement and a structural, movement. As we look away from the minutiae of behaviourwhich compose the dailylife of the individualand examinethe recurrentand complex interrelationsof behaviourthat are sometimesreferredto as institutions, the structuralaspect of time becomes more apparent. The longer periods of time are almost entirely structuralbecausethe events they relate are changes in social status. Moreover, timereckoning based on changes in natureand man's response to them is limited to an annual cycle and therefore cannot be employed to differentiate longer periods than seasons. Both oecological time and structuraltime have limited and fixed notations. The seasonaland monthly changes repeatthemselvesyear afteryear, so that a Nuer standingat any point of time has conceptual knowledge of what lies before him, and this knowledge enables him to predict and organizehis life accordingly. Their time-reckoningis thus a value, or norm, to which activities should roughly accord. A man's structuralfuture is likewise alreadyfixed and is broken into differentperiods, so that a boy standing at the threshold of life can foresee the total changes in status he will undergo if he lives long enough. This also is a value. Just as a certain round of activities should proceed with the cycle of the months and seasons so each person should advanceby regularstages on an ordered and ordained passage through the social system. Structuraltime is entirely progressive whereas oecological time is only progressive within an annual cycle. The oecological cycle is a year. Its distinctiverhythmis the backwards and forwardsmovement from villages to camps,for the life of the Nuer, like that of other peoples in the same latitude,falls into two contrastedperiods, the rains and the drought, each of which covers halfthe year. Oecologicalrelationsfollow this meteoroapproximately and the economic life of the Nuer and, to some dichotomy logical their more generalsocial relations,are determinedthereby. extent, The Nuer year (ruon) has two main seasons, tot and mei.I In our calendar tot is from about the middle of March to the middle of
I OccasionallyNuer speak of these two seasons as run,years. A man may thus say that an event happened' Four runago, two tot and two mei'. This usage is rare.

NUER TIME-RECKONING

I9I

September(six months)and meiis from aboutthe middleof September to the middle of March(six months). If one asks Nuer for a list of the months that fall into each division they generally give six to each seasonbut they do not alwaysgive the sameterminalmonths; one man may place a month in one season and another man may place the same month in the other season. This lack of uniformity is due to several reasons: the slight climatic variations between Eastern and Western Nuerland; the marginal characterof some months which permitstheir inclusion in either season; and the fact that Nuer do not think of divisions of time so much in terms of physicalconditions as in less precise terms of social activities, the concept of seasons being derivedfrom the activitiesratherthanfrom the climaticchangeswhich determinethe activities. The season of tot roughly correspondsto the rise in the curve of rainfallin this latitude, but it does not cover the whole period of the rains. Rains may be very heavy in the latterhalf of Septemberand in early October and the country is still flooded in these months which, nevertheless,belong to the meihalf of the year,for the meiseasoncommences at the decline of the rains-not at their cessation-and it roughly covers the trough of the curve. The two main seasons are thereforenot quite the same as our division into dry and wet seasons but only approximateto them. The Nuer classificationaptly summarizes their way of looking at the movement of time, direction of attention in marginal months being as significantas actual climatic conditions. In the middle of September Nuer turn, as it were, towards the life of fishing and cattle-camps and feel that village residenceand the life of horticulturelie behind them. They begin to speak of camps as though they were alreadyin being and long to be on the move. This restlessnessis even more marked near the end of the dry season when, noting the cloudy skies, people turn towards the life of villages and make preparationsfor striking camp. The marginal months may therefore be classed as tot or mei, since they belong to one set of activities but presagethe other set. I have describedelsewherexthe oecological changesassociatedwith the wet and dry seasons. In this paper I summarizethem. In the tot season the rains commence and continue to their decline; the rivers
I 'Economic Life of the Nuer: Cattle', Sudan Notes andRecords, I937 and 1938.

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NUER TIME-RECKONING

begin to rise and reach their peak; lagoons, lakes, and swamps are full of water and the whole savannahplain is more or less inundated; the temperatureis cool, the sky cloudy, the winds predominantly southern and south-western; and certain stars and groups of stars are no longer visible. The whole of Nuer(kweland curparticularly) land is covered by tall and dense grasses; mosquitoes swarm after sunset; fish move from the main rivers up streamsand lagoons and into swampsand flooded shallows; some species of birds migrate(the pelicanand such regularassociatesof man asjaakokmarol, the whitea little throated crow, kat, the kite, cuor,the vulture, Nyanglualwet, bird with a yellow breastand brindled beak, and another small bird, calledjohyier, being said by Nuer to spend the tot season with God); and animalsmove inlandfrom the rivers. The main social activities of this seasonare residencein villages,horticultural labour,feasts, dances, some in warfare the and, ceremonies, earlypart, raidingof the Dinka. of the mei season are the reverse The chief physical characteristics of those of the tot; declining rainfalland its complete cessation for several months; fall of the main rivers, the consequent drainageof streamsand lagoons, and the slow evaporationof the water of lakes and pools and swamps; high temperature,cloudless skies, a preof certain heavenly dominant northerly wind, and the reappearance bodies. Concomitantbiological changes are the ripening of the seeds of plantsand trees; the dryingup of grasses;the absenceof mosquitoes and variationsin the abundanceof other insects; rinderpestin some years; the movement of fish to the main rivers or their imprisonment in pools and lagoons; the return of migratory birds and the concentration of animals near lakes and rivers. Social activities of this season are residencein camps, fishing, hunting, the collection of wild fruits and seeds, the herdingof cattlein the pastures,economy in food, monotonous daily routine, certaincamp customs such as the dompiny dance, displayof oxen (rau),singing at night (twar),and main raiding of Dinka in the earlypart of the season. There arethus threeplanesof rhythm:physicalrhythm,oecological rhythmbased on physicalchanges, and social rhythmbased on oecological changes. Nuer concepts of time are based primarilyon the social rhythm,the outstandingqualityof which is the movement from (village) to wec(camp)and back againfrom wecto cieng. cieng

May

June

July

August September October NovemberDecember Januar

R
R I

A
V E R

I
S

N
R I S

S
E R

D
I V

R
E

O
R

H O R T
Preparation of gardens for first millet sowing and for maize
0

I C
Harvest maize

L T

U F

R I

E
S

Preparation of gardensforsecond millet sowing Harvest first millet crop

BURN I qG OF TH

BUILDING & REPAIRIN Harvest second millet crop

SCARCITY OF FOOD PLENTY OF

HUNT C 0
FOOD

Older Younger people people return to return to> villages villages

E C

S A

Younger people in Ever early camps Wedding, initiation, mortuary, and other ceremonies Mainseason for

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NUER TIME-RECKONING

A few words may be said about Nuer lack of interestin the movements of the heavenlybodies other than the sun and the moon. They have namesfor a numberof planets and starsand groups of stars but they do not use their movements to construct a system of timereckoning or to order their activities. The relationsbetween the cier pitha, ' the stars of planting ', and horticulturallabour is known but their position in the heavens is not a direction for sowing, which and disappearance of the follows the first heavy rains. The appearance at different times of the of certain or stars, stars, evening, night, and morning, may be of some assistanceto the Nuer in telling how long the night has enduredbut, as far as I amaware,the movementsof these for them. The most importantstars are bodies have little significance the are most those which strikingto any people: lipghokpai, probably evening star,which when the moon is late in rising is said to take her the morning star, place and to look after her cattle, and cierrmokni, which is said to be a sign to the buffaloesat their drinkingpools that dawn is about to break and that it is time to move away from the proximityof men. Two other stars, besides those mentioned, which are named by Nuer are the Great Bear, called baro,'the seven ', and the star which circles the moon's orbit calledcekpath, 'the moon's wife '. Doubtless some Nuer can name other stars. Nuer say that the heavens are cut in two by the milky way, dar ghaua. In about June the tot side of the heavens is largerthan the mei side but the milkyway slowly moves acrossthe heavens decreasingthe tot side and increasingthe mnei side. It finally sinks on the horizon of the tot side. When it reappears the meiside is the largerbut as it moves across the heavens it increasesthe tot side at the expense of the mei side. In other words the milky way appears at different times in differentpositions of the heavens and as it moves across them to the horizon the spaces associatedwith the two main seasons are said to increaseand decrease. The advent of prevailing winds, like certain movements of the heavenly bodies, are observed by Nuer to occur in relationto oecological changes but are not in themselves significantpoints in timethe north wind, reckoning. The most constant wind is kaingwak, which blows across the Nile basin from about November to March. From about April, and through the tot season, south-easterlyand

NUER TIME-RECKONING

I95

winds prevail. These southerlywinds are south-westerlyrain-bearing known as deng. Nuer say that at the beginning of the dry season (in the latterpart of November) the north wind, kaingwak, startsto leave 'the byre of God', while deng, luakkwoth, the south wind, which brings rain, startsto move for his southern quartersto spend the dry season in 'the byre of God '. At the commencementof tot, dengreappears and tells the north wind that it has blown long enough and they have a struggle in which the north wind is defeated and driven to take refuge in 'the byre of God' for the durationof the rains. This is rathera figurativeaccount,for, actually,the winds, especially at the commencementof the rains,veer all round the compass. About Marchand April a hot wind calledtargeau, oryoiya,blows from a south to south-eastdirectionand bends the windscreens(gedu).In the early rains, or just before them, a dust-ladenwind, called thulor thulrwil, often blows from the north-east. Dengseems to be a generictermfor all rain-bearingwinds. In Lou country Nuer say that the chief rainwinds arejiom pam, or dengkir, which blows from the Ethiopian highlands (pam) before and during the early rains, and peelualwhich blows laterfrom a westerly direction. Mr. F. D. Corfieldtells me that among the Eastern Jikany the south wind which blows in the rainy season is called woowic.In differentparts of Nuerland differentterms are used to describe local winds. Sometimes, especiallyin the early rains, rain clouds arise from a westerly direction but pass over when every one expects rain to fall. These are called kanar. Nuer say that once upon a time kanarwas told by his maternaluncle that he wanted rain for his millet and kanarpromisedto bring it on the following day but did not keep his promise. When several days had passed his uncle cursed (biit) him so that he would always be on the point of raining but never rain. Though the differentwinds are noted by the Nuer and are known to occur at differenttimes of the year they, like the stars,are not used as an index of time-reckoning. Nuer note the commencementof the north wind as part of the complex of characterswhich make up the of the white-throated mei season, just as they note the reappearance But of certain these areassociatedphenostars. and the crow visibility mena and not defining characteristics.The two charactersby which the seasonsare most clearlydefinedare those which control the move-

i96

NUER TIME-RECKONING

ments of the Nuer: water and vegetation. When the rains begin to fall off the country dries, the village water-suppliesrun low, and the grasses ripen and wither. These are the true signs of mei and the people turn towards the cattle camps which such conditions necessitate. When the rainsrecommencethe village pools are replenished and the country is covered with young and tender grasses. These are the signs of tot and the people turn towards the villages which can now be occupied again. Though fishing and agricultureplay an important part in this dichotomy it is the needs of the cattle which chieflytranslateoecological rhythminto the social rhythmof the year. and one wec,comprisea Nuer year One tot and one mei,or one cieng it be noted that besides the main seasons of At this point may (ruon). tot and meithe Nuer have two subsidiaryseasons which are included in the majordivisions, being transitionalperiods between them. The four seasons are not sharp divisions, but overlap. Just as we speak of summer and winter as the halves of a year and speak also of the seasons of spring and autumn, the Nuer speak of tot and mei as the halves of the year and speakalso of the seasons of rwil andjiom. Rwil is the season of moving from campto village, of clearingcultivations, and of planting maize and millet, from about the middle of March to the middle of June. The rainshave not yet reachedtheir peak and for most of this season the younger people are still in camp. Rwil counts as part of the tot half of the year but is contrastedwith tot in tot, the smalleror second tot, the period of full village life and of weeding and harvest,from about the middle of June to the middle of September. The two together form tot in dit, the greateror complete tot. Rwil is thus the transitionalseason between mei and tot. Jiom means ' wind' and refers to the period from about the middle of Septemberto the middle of December during which the persistent north wind begins to blow. It is the season of harvesting,of fishing from dams, of the burning of the bush, and of early camps. Jiomn counts as part of meibeing contrastedwith meiin tot, the period from about the middle of Decemberto the middle of Marchwhen the main areformed. The two togetherare meiindit,the greateror cattle-camps seasonbetweentot and mei. completemei. Jiomis thus the transitional Roughly speaking therefore, the Nuer may be said to have two major seasons of six months each and four minor seasons of three

NUER TIME-RECKONING

197

months each. One must not, however, be too precise in recording these divisions for they are not for the Nuer exact units of time but rather vague conceptualizationsof changes in oecological relations and socialactivitiesand as thereareno suddenbreaksin these relations and activities, but one state passes into another by infinitesimal changes, so there are no sharply defined seasons. The contrast between environmentalconditions and modes of life at the height of
J^N UAR

'\ ~Mei in tot

/.

Tot i

tot
\

'
%%
Alnf

the rains and at the height of the drought gives the significantconceptual dichotomy into tot and mei. The other two seasons, being transitional,are less definite. Principallyit must be rememberedthat Nuer have no abstractnumericalsystem of time-reckoningbased on exact astronomicalobservations but only descriptive divisions of a cycle of human activities. Consequently,a statementmade by a man that a certain six months are tot and the other six months are mei may be contradicted by his statement in a marginal month that it is now mei or tot. The environmentalcontext overrides the abstract classification. In the diagramabove a line drawn from the middle of March to the middle of Septemberis the axis of the conceptualyear. The axis, to an actualcleavagebetween as I have explained,is an approximation

i98

NUER TIME-RECKONING

two opposed sets of oecological relations and social activities and indicates the direction of attention. Tot and mei do not correspond exactly to the village life and camp life which are their focal points. In the second diagramit will be seen that Nuer are still in camp for part of the tot (greaterpart of the rwil season) and they are still in villages for part of the mei (the greaterpart of thejiot season). But in the tot properthey are alwaysin villages and in the meiproper they are always in camps.

Pro

yars

/ Part of the year spent in villages. % Part of the year spent in camps.

The words tot and mei stand for the cluster of social activities, especiallyeconomic activities, of the wet and dry seasons. They are not pure units of time-reckoningbut are expressionswhich signify social activity. Thus while one may speak,for example,of some event having happened' wal tot' ' last tot season ' or ' waljiom' ' lastjiom season' one may also say ' ba wa tot', 'I am going to tot' in such and such a place, or ' ba wa mei', ' I am going to mei' in such and such a place. One hearsa Nuer say of a certainman 'He is not here. He has gone to tot with his kinsmen in Jikany country. He will meiwith us on the Nyanding.' The seasons are a conception of time in terms of
activities.

The Nuer year has twelve months, six in tot and six in mei, and

NUER TIME-RECKONING

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most adult Nuer can state them in order, though boys often cannot state all of them or recite them in their correct order. In the list of Nuer months given below it has not been possible to equate each with an English month since our Roman months have no connexion with the moon, whereas the Nuer system is a lunar one. It will be found, however, that the Nuer month is usually included in two English months given opposite it and that normallyit covers a greater part of the first month. Occasionallyit covers part of the English month which precedes the first of those given. If the Nuer lunar reckoning were an abstract,numerical,and systematizedcalendarthe months would, of course, circle round our Roman calendarand any month would eventually traverse every one of our months, as the lunar months of the Islamic calendardo; but they are fixed within about sixty days' limit because,the circuit of the moon being always practicallythe same, all Nuer have to do to keep each month in its fixed seasonal position is to change the name from the month they thought it was to the month it must be. Each month is associated with certain oecological changes and social activities and since these occur at about the same time each year the month associated with them is fixed to this period. I returnto this point later. The incidence of the following months was checked on four expeditions:
Teer Sept.-Oct. Oct.-Nov. Nov.-Dec. Dec.-Jan. Jan.-Feb. 'pai kam mei kene tot', ' the month which divides the mei season from the tot season.' A transitional month. 'nhial la ngwuteka lath', ' the rain always ceases in lath.' In Western Nuerlandthis month is called labuor. In thismonth'The new grassesspringup

Lath(boor) Kur Tiop(in) dit Tiop(in) tot

and the cattlegrazewell everywhere andcovertheearth withtheirdung.'

This month is sometimes called ugh thiangni.' Tiang calve in this month and next month return to the herd.'

Pet

Feb.-Mar.

calledleergat. This monthis sometimes

' Becakleernigwith , 'the milk sours in the milk-gourd.' No wedding
dances may be held in this month,

for Nuer 'respect' (thek)it.

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Duong

Mar.-April

Gwaak Dwvat

April-May May-June

The final ceremony of marriage and the mortuaryceremony may not be held in this month. A transitional month between the nei and the tot seasons. Another name for this month is wan which some people say is named after the fox, which cubs during it. duddr ',' the sun is over' Cecang wangde cast by clouds.' 'After the new moon of dwathas appearedthe cattle are driven to the villages.'

Kornyuot June-July Paiyatni (payiene) July-Aug. Thoor Aug.-Sept.

Since most adult Nuer know the months in their correctorder and since the months are anchoredto oecological and social processesthe calendaris a conceptual scheme which enables Nuer to view the year as an ordered succession of changes and to calculate to some extent the relationbetween one event and anotherin abstractnumerical symbols. Though the months are linked conceptuallyto natural and social changestheirnamesareto a very limited extent descriptions of these changes. The etymology of many months is doubtful and cannot be explainedby Nuer who say of such a name that it is ' cyot lora',' just a nameand no more '. Some of the namesarepossibly bang of Dinka origin. Nevertheless some names at once suggest outstandof certain months and their meaning can at once ing characteristics is the month (pai) in which, be explainedby Nuer. Paiyatni(paiyene) throw the eaten cobs with their sheaves of maize, people away having leaves (bayatkienyuor piny). Pet is the month in which ci ghau pet, the world is afire,for it is the hottest period of the year and the scorched earth burns the feet. Duongis the month of breezes (duong).In this month dust-laden winds bring cool air after the great heat of the preceding month. Be ghaukoc, be mocka thuol,the world cools and is saidto be so calledbecauseduring producesan easterlywind. Thoor it millet stems float, after the harvest, in the water-logged gardens (berointhoar may be so calledbecauseduringit the wicpini). Lath(boor) cold north wind blows and makes people shiver (lath) in the early

NUER TIME-RECKONING

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mornings, though this is a doubtful derivation. That certainactivities are associatedwith each month is not only evident from some of their names but also from the fact that Nuer can, in listing the months, state what are the main activities and oecological changes which will take place in each. Since the Nuer have a lunar calendarof twelve months they would soon be in difficultiesif they maintaineda consistent reckoning. As it is, the months adjustthemselvesto the annualcycle of activities. Thus I have noticed that in the event of two men naminga month differently those present have discussed the question in relation to naturalconditions and economic labour. Seasonalchanges may lag behind or be in advance of their normal time of appearance, accordingto the lateness or earlinessof the rains, but there are certainactivities normally carriedout in each month and these activities regulate the calendar instead of the calendarregulating them. Thereforea twelve months' system does not incommode the Nuer for their calendaris little more of a cycle of activitieswhich follow the cycle than a conceptualization of environmentalchanges. Hence a year to a Nuer is a residencein and a period of wec, villages and a residencein camps,a period of cieng and the seasonsand months areless units of time thanunits of activity. In the month of kur one constructs the first fishing platforms and forms the first cattle-camps. Therefore since one is fishing in the earliest cattle-camps it must be kur. In dwat one breaks camp and returns to the villages. One is so returning and it must, therefore, be dwat. In other words, Nuer do not keep a strict tally of the succession of moons. Consequently their calendar remains fairly stable. It follows that Nuer in one part of Nuerlandmay be a month ahead of, or behind, Nuer in anotherpart. This is certainlythe case between the Easternand the Western Nuer and I found in one year that there was a differenceof a month between the reckoning of the Lou and that of the Gaajok around Nasser and the Gaajok reckoning may differ from that of the Gaajak on the Ethiopian border. These are probablydue to variationsin the time of the firstheavy differences rains. It follows also that differentindividuals may disagree about the name of a month, since environmental conditions and human activities overlap from one month to another. Nevertheless, people

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of the same community are generallyagreed about the name of any month. Some further points may here be alluded to. There seems some evidence that among the Eastern Jikany an intercalarymonth, 'a little month' called nyacis inserted either between dwatand kornyuot or betweenpaiyatniand thoor. I did not inquire sufficientlyinto this matter while I was at Nasser and I have not heard the month mentioned in other parts of Nuerland. I draw attention to the common East African feature of two months with the same name, tiopdit and tioptot, the greaterand the lesser tiop. In giving me lists of the months Nuer generally placed tiop dit before tiop tot but sometimes they reversed the order. The peculiarityof having two months with the same name might be accounted for by the relative constancy and samenessof natureand of men's activitiesduring December, January, and February. Indeed, I received the impression that Nuer when giving me a list of their months hesitated more over the dry-season months than over the wet-season ones. It cannot be said that the month. In giving a list of months Nuer year begins at any particular Nuer may startwith any one of them, though they usually startwith the month they arein at the time. Thereis no conventionalor celestial point of referenceat which one year is said to end and a new year to begin. In my experience Nuer do not use the names of the months to any great extent as time-indicators. If they wish to state when an event happenedthey generallyreferinsteadto one of the outstanding activities in process at the time of its occurrence. Thus people say that they have done something, or they do something, ecjiom, at the time of the earlycamps,wecmei,at the time of the main dry season beelwic, at camps,purenebeel,at the time of weeding millet, ngeerene the time of harvestingthe first millet crop, ngeerene pan, at the time of harvestingthe second millet crop, &c. They may even speak of the beelwic, month of doing these things e.g. pai purenebeel,pai ngeerene It is that use such and so forth. expressions easilyunderstandable they since time is to them relationsbetween activities. During the rains the stages in the growth of millet and the steps takenin its cultivationenableNuer to definetime with some precision. One may do so by indicatingwith the hand the height of the millet

NUER TIME-RECKONING

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when an event took place, or by referringto one of the severalweedings of the crop, or by denoting the maturityof the millet at the time. Thus, to quote a few expressionsas an example of the flexibilityof one of these ways of determiningtime, one hearsin contexts of timethe graingok or ci beela tungthiang, reckoning such phrasesas ci beel sheath has formed, ce beelruit, the grain has formed in its sheath, ce beelghaar, the grain has emergedfrom its case of leaves, ce beeljuak, the small seeds of the grain have begun to show themselves at the mouth of their pods, ce nyinkien boi, the seeds have whitened, ci beel the grain is not quite ripe, cikeciek,they have ripened,cajong amoany, the heads of the the lat, drying platformhas been erected,ca beelngeer, millet have been cut, ca beelcec,the stalks of the millet have been cut down, ca beelnongcieng,ca ke lathjunga,the millet has been brought to the village and stackedon the drying platforms,ca ke homn, the grain has been threshed. Similarexpressionscan be used for maize which is planted before the millet and when the first millet harvest is being reaped the second crop is growing so that an horticulturaltimereckoning can be employed through the rainy season and well into the dry season. For purposes of time-reckoningthe vocabularyof a dominant activity for a great part of the year may thus be used. Pastoral activities are largely undifferentiated throughout the months and seasons and thereforedo not invite their use in a similar manner,though, as will be explained,they divide the dailyround into a series of events which have a temporal sequence. Horticultural activities are progressive throughout a season, pastoral activities throughout a day. In the dry season, activitiesvary little from month to month so that it is less easy than in the rains to find points of referencein time-reckoning. Moreover, there is, perhaps,less need to differentiate units of time because there are few or no ceremonial in undertakings, which individuals from differentvillages have to participate,at this season of the year. The uneventfulnessof life in camps diminishes the need for relating events to other events by a system of time-reckoning. It may, indeed, be said that time is not always the same to Nuer at differentseasons. It is difficultto expressthis point clearlyand, moreover, I cannot cite Nuer authorityin making it. When time is consideredas relationsbetween activities,it will, however, be understood

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that it has a differentconnotation in the rains and at the commencement of the drought when there is a round of varied economic and ceremonialundertakings,when raids are carriedout, when food and beer are plentiful, and when, in general, the pulse of life beats faster, to the connotation it has in the middle of the dry season when the round of social activities is monotonous and undifferentiatedand there is great oecological stability. There are, so to speak, fewer points on the dry-seasonclock than on the wet-season clock so that the hands appear to move more slowly, to an outsider at any rate and possibly to the Nuer themselves. If this is true it is saying no more than that perception of time is a function of systems of timereckoning. We have consideredthe year, the seasons, and the months. Nuer have no weeks or other specific units of time between the lunar reckoningof the months and the solarreckoningof the day and night. They indicate the occurrenceof events more than a day or two past either by referenceto some other event, such as the birth of a calf or some horticultural activitythen in progressor, if they wish to be more accurate,by counting the numberof intervening' sleeps' (nin). Sometimes, though in my experienceless often, they count the number of ' suns ' (cang). ' Sleeps ' and ' suns' correspond to nights and days. Thus they say 'We shall move camp afterfour sleeps ' or ' We shall move camp after four suns '. Distances are reckonedin the number of ' sleeps' which will be experiencedbefore a journeyis ended, e.g. a Nuer says ' It is far. We sleep two sleeps and then in the morning we arrive.' There is no term which includes both day and night. There are terms for 'to-day ' (wala), ' to-morrow' (irun), 'the day after to-morrow' (mwalla),' yesterday' (mepan), and 'the day before yesterday' (pan keje),the 'day after the day after to-morrow' (mwalla and 'the day before the day before yesterday' (pan keje mo dodien), mo dodien), but there is no precision about these terms. Thus irun, 'to-morrow ', may have the general sense of 'after to-day' and ' irunmedodien',' the day afterto-morrow' is an even more indefinite expressionmeaning' anotherto-morrow' and if one wishes to makeit quite clearthat one meanspreciselythe day afterto-day it is advisable to say irunpany, the true to-morrow,and if one meansthe day afterthe

NUER TIME-RECKONING

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day after to-day one must say irunpathdeirun,the to-morrow after to-morrow or enumeratethe number of intervening sleeps. There is the same vagueness about mepan, yesterday. I shall not in this paper discuss the temporalindicationsconveyed variationsin verbs and by tone and length in adverbial by grammatical expressions, beyond saying that the prefix system allows such indications and that a person may express degrees of antiquity, like degrees of great distance, by the manner in which he enunciates adverbialexpressions. When Nuer wish to define the occurrenceof an event several days in advance, as in fixing the time of a dance or wedding, they do so by referenceto the phases of the moon: the appearanceof the new full moon (turde),its waning moon (pai teeth), its waxing (borde), and the brightness of its second quarter (kangde).When (muthde) speaking vaguely they say that a certainevent will take place during the waxing or waning of a certain moon and when speaking more preciselythey say on what night of the waxing or waning it will occur, e.g. on the fifth night of the waxing or on the seventh night of the waning. Nuer reckon fifteen nights to the waxing and fifteen nights to the waning, making thirty nights to the month. There are no specificterms appliedto the phases of the moon on each night of the month though there are terms which describe its phases just before and in full moon (ca dityath, ce wangde boye pak, ca tur, ca lual, &c.). Nuer say that only cattle and the Anuak people in their canoes on the river can see the moon in its invisible period. The day has many points of reference in time-reckoning, determined by the course of the sun and not by the length of shadows. A common way of indicatingthe time of day of future or past events is by pointing with an outstretchedarm to the place which the sun then occupied, or will occupy, in the heavens and by saying 'Thus the sun ' (cangenono).The striking apparent movement of the sun across the heavens invites the use of this simple mode of timereckoning. The Nuer also have descriptiveexpressionswhich roughly indicate the positions of the sun and these expressions can be used instead of manualdemonstrationsor, as is often the case, in addition to it. These expressionsvary in the degree of their precision. Miss Soule of the AmericanMission with the aid of two Nuer able to tell

20o6

NUER TIME-RECKONING

the time by the clock, Pec and Ruot, has worked out the following points of time:
4.00-4.30 potghoaa (very little light). 4.30-5 .oo keak ghoaa (more light).
5.00-5.30 5.30-6.oo ci ghou bwai (still more light).

ci piny baak or ci ghou baak (dawn). ci cang thokde kany, the tip of the sun rises (just before full sunrise).

6.oo
7.oo-8.oo

kanycangor cangkany(sunrise).
thoal cang (the sun is warming up).

8.oo-i2.00 ci cangdit (the sun is big). I 2.00 cangdar,the sun is in the centre of the heavens (noon). buah cang (the sun is bending), some people speak of buak 13.00-14.00 cangto about 15.oo I4.00-I 5.00 ci cangthiak(the afternoonapproaches). I 5.oo-I 8.oo thiang (afternoon). i8.oo kwonycang(sunset). i 8.oo-i 8. I5 riar cang,the sun is finished (just after sunset).

The clock times given as an equivalent of these expressions are only and, since the sun does not rise at the same time approximations the year, are average points. In my experiencemost of throughout them are little used and I have never heard some of them. The ones that one hears daily are those that refer to the more prominently movements of the sun: the first stroke of dawn, sunrise, differentiated noon, and sunset. Cang,daytime, is contrastedwith war, night, and forenoon, with thiang,afternoon. One also speaks of that runwang, and of that part which lies part of the day which is spent as mindan ahead as iyoo. It is, perhaps,significantthat in Miss Soule's list a largenumber of terms differentiatecertainparts of the day while fewer and less precise terms are used to denote others parts. Thus no less than six points of referencecan be used between 4.oo and 6.oo, while there are only seven points of referencefor the rest of the day. This is probably due chiefly to striking contrasts caused by changes in the
relations of earth to sun between 4.oo and 6.oo. It must also be pointed

out, however, that time units during these two hours have greater significancein directing activities-starting on journeys,rising from sleep, tethering cattle in kraals, hunting, &c.-than do time units

NUER TIME-RECKONING

207

during the rest of the day. Dawn and sunrise may be important signs to note, whereasthere is not the same significancein the movement of the sun at 13.oo00, I4.00, and I 5.00 hours.

Phraseswhich can be employed to denote times of the night after riar cang,just after sunset, are mier ghoaa,twilight, cuolghoaa,the first war, about zo.oo to 21.00 hours, ce war dit, darknessof night, thiang
about
21.00

to

23.00

hours, wardar, about

23.00

to midnight, ce war

lang dak, about midnight to I.00 (the stars are beginning to bend their backs, as it were, and to start off towardsthe west), cighourowul,
about 1.00 to 3.00 (from the position of the stars the earth seems to to 4.00 be leaning as a hut when it starts to fall), dudur,about 3.oo00

(false dawn), liet bakka,about 4.00 (the darktime just before dawn). The divisions of night are to a very limited extent determinedby the course of the stars. Here again it will have been noted that there is a richerterminologyfor the transitionperiod between day and night than during the rest of the night and the same reasons as those suggested above may again be put forwardto explainthis fact. Except for the commonest of the terms for division of the day they are little used in comparisonwith expressionswhich describeroutine diurnalactivities. The daily time-piece is the cattle-clock,the round of pastoraltasks and the time of day and the passageof time through a day are to a Nuer primarilythe succession of these tasks and their relation to one another: taking of the cattle from byre to kraal, milking, display of youths with their oxen, driving of the adult herd to pasturage,milking of the goats and sheep, driving of the flocks and calves to pasture, churning, cleaning of byre and kraal, drying of dung fuel, herding in the pastures,bringing home of the flocks and calves, returnof the adult herd, tethering of the cattle, evening milking, evening churning, enclosure of the beasts in their byres, singing amid the herd at night, and so forth. Usually Nuer use these points of activity, ratherthan concrete points in the movement of the sun across the heavens, to co-ordinateevents. Thus a Nuer says 'I will returnat (the time of) milking', 'I will start off (at the time) when the calves come home', ' They fought (at the time) when we were churning', and so on. The Nuer system of time-reckoningis thus based partly on the movements of the heavenly bodies which give them, directly or

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NUER TIME-RECKONING

indirectly,concepts of year, season, month, day, night, and divisions of the day and night, and partly on a round of economic and other social activities the performanceof which in succession makes them pay attention to the movements of the heavenly bodies and to the oecological variations they cause. The passage of time is perceived in the relationof activitiesto eachother. Sinceactivitiesaredependent on the movements of the heavenlybodies the two ways of reckoning time are really two ways of denoting the same thing. One may say ' the jiom season ', or ' the forming of early camps', ' the month of lath' or ' the returnto the villages', ' thoalcang' (the sun is warming up), or ' at milking-time'. But the significance of natural time is always in its relation to social activities by referenceto which Nuer select the natural points and divisions that the movements of the heavenly bodies permit them to demarcateclearly; and it is always directly or indirectlyin referenceto these activities that they reckon time. This is why the months are the least precise units of time in actual linguistic usage, though they are the most definite units of natural time, for the months are not clearly differentiatedunits of activity whereas the day and the year and its main seasons are complete occupationalunits. What we have called oecological time might better, therefore,be called occupationaltime. Though I have spoken of time and units of time it must be pointed out that, strictly speaking, the Nuer have no concept of time and, consequently,no developedabstractsystemof time-reckoning. Much has been written about our concept of time and I do not intend to enter this debatedterritory. To bring out the absenceof such a concept among the Nuer I need only remarkthat there is no equivalent expressionin the Nuer language for our word 'time ', and that they cannot, therefore, as we can, speak of time as though it were something actual,which passes, can be wasted, can be saved, and so forth. Presumablythey have in consequence a differentperception of time to ours. Certainlythey never experiencethe same feeling of fighting against time, of having to co-ordinate activities with an abstract passageof time, since their points of referenceare mainlythe activities themselves, which are generally of a leisurely and routine character. There are no autonomouspoints of referenceto which activitieshave to conformwith precision.

NUER TIME-RECKONING

209

Also the Nuer has very limited means of reckoning the relative durationof periods of time intervening between events, since he has few, and not well-definedor systematized,units of time. Not having units of hours a series of undefinableperiods intervenebetween positions of the sun or daily activities. It is true that the year is divided into twelve numericalunits of moons, but the Nuer do not reckon in them as fractionsof a unit. They may be able to state in what month an event occurred,but it is with great difficultythat they calculatethe numberof months that have since intervened. They think much more easily in terms of activitiesand of successionsof activitiesand, as will be explained,in terms of social structureand of structuraldifferences, than they do in units of time. Though I have spoken of Nuer perceptionof time I wish to makeit clear that I have made no experiments to assess its psychological quality. Perceptionsof time, in our opinion, are functions of systems of time-reckoning and hence culturally determined. The object of this paper,therefore,is simplyto outline the Nuer modes of reckoning time by describingtheir points of reference. In a sense all time is structuralsince it is a conceptualizationof co-ordinatedor co-operative activities: the movements of a group. Otherwise, of course, time concepts of this kind could not exist, for they must have a like meaningfor every one within a group. Milking time is approximatelythe same for all people who normally come into contact with one another, and the movement from wecto cieng has approximatelythe same connotation everywhere in Nuerland, though it mayhave a specialconnotationfor a specialgroup of persons. Properlyspeakingthe yearis the largestunit of Nuer time-reckoning. next year(ithar), They can speakof last year (mithar),this year (waale), the year before last year, and the year after next year. Beyond the yearthey reckonin events and structuralrelationships. Events which took place in the last few years can be translated by Nuer into numbers of years, but it is a laborious business and each joint family and village and district has its own points of departure: events of significance to these groups. One of the commonest ways of discovering how many years ago an event took place is to count the places where the group made its dry-seasoncamps. They say 'Last year we campedat such and such a place, before that at such and such
P

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NUER TIME-RECKONING

a place', and so on. When they have reachedthe camp where they were in the year in which the event happenedthey have ticked off the number of years which have intervened. They often count also by referenceto the evils that befall their cattle: e.g. an event took place the year in which many beasts died of bovine plural pneumonia. In the following year a certaincow was killed by a lion, and so on. A joint family may reckon time from the birth of calves which have grown to adult cows in their herd. Weddings, mortuaryceremonies, ceremonies in honour of those killed by lightning, fights and raids, all give points of time, though no one knows without lengthy calculations how many years have elapsed between, and since, the different events, because there is no numerical system of dating. Time in years is to Nuer an order of events of outstandingsignificanceto the group concerned. Each part of Nuerland, a tribe or adjacenttribes, have their own history and thereforetheir own historic time. Among the Lou and the Eastern Jikany the following years are sometimes referredto in in tot, the year of the small flood (i917), dating an event: ruonnyoac in dit, the year of the large flood (1919), ruonriaainhial,the ruonnyoac year of aeroplaneswhich bombed the cattle-camps(i920), ruonme nakeguk Deang,the year in which the prophet Gwek was killed by Government troops (I928-9), rwone gwol, the year of the small-pox retha,the year of famine (I93o0-). In course epidemic(I929-30), ruon of time these names of years are forgotten and all events beyond the limits of this crude historical reckoning fade into the dim vista of ne-walke, long long ago. Historical time, in this sense of an order of events, probably never goes back among the Nuer more than fifty years and the fartherback from the present day the sparserand vaguer become its points of reference. The Nuer age-set system enables them to state when events took place, not in numbers of years, but in relation to groups of people. The distancesbetween events cease to be reckoned in time concepts aswe understand distance, them,and arereckonedin termsof structural being the relations of groups of people to other groups of people. Thus a Nuer may say that an event took place after the Thutage-set was born or in the initiation period of the Boiloc age-set, but no one Time is here reckoned in it can say how many years ago happened.

NUER TIME-RECKONING

2I

sets and is thereforerelativeand structural. If a man of the Dangunga set tells one that an event occurredin the initiationperiod of the Thut age-set he is saying that it happenedthree sets before his set. I have discussedthe Nuer age-set system elsewhere.' In the present context I need only say that, at any rate in recent times, there does not seem to have been a fixed period of years covered by each set, so that a reckoning in sets cannot accuratelybe translatedinto a reckoning in years. Nevertheless, we may hazard the opinion that there is an averageperiod of about ten years between the commencementof any set and the commencementof the set that comes after it. There are living membersof six sets, the few surviving individualsof the oldest set being over seventy, since boys are not initiated till they are over twelve yearsof age. The namesof the sets are not repeatedand cyclic. In theory, therefore, one might reckon time in sets to an indefinite period, but in fact Nuer generallyknow only the latest of the sets the membersof which are all dead or, if they know the names of several vanished sets, are uncertain of their order and do not use them for purposes of time-reckoning. An age-set reckoning has, therefore, seven units covering a period of about ninety years. A century may be accepted as the limit of reckoning time in age-sets. No Nuer has any idea of his age in terms of years,but only in terms and of status. In terms of status there are so of physicalappearance many sets in front of him and so manybehind him. It is only in early childhood that there are a large number of expressionsto denote the stages of growth, or rather of activities, of an individual, e.g. he crawls, he stands erect, &c. After pubertythe main changes in status are for men the passing from boyhood to manhood and for both sexes marriageand the birth of a first child. The points of agegrade referenceare few between marriageand death. The interrelations between Nuer age-setsare expressedin the idiom of family nomenclature:fathers,brothers,and sons. The six existing sets correspondto threegenerationsor to two units of agnaticdescent, a man and his fatherand the same man and his son. The father-son relationshipis a lineage unit conceived in one dimension and represented by a vertical line. Four such units or five generation steps (kath) are linguistically differentiatedrelations of an agnatic order:
I

'The Nuer: Age-sets,' SudanNotes and Records,I936.

2 I2

NUER TIME-RECKONING

gwan,father,gat, son, and gatgat, gwandong (gwangwan),grandfather', is the mechanism by which one nomenclature grandson. Kinship indicates social differentiationbetween the various relationshipsin this line of ascent and descent, the relationshipsso indicated being socio-temporalpoints of referencein the kinship structure. There are no referencepoints which can be defined by specific kinship terms and grandson. beyond grandfather Any kinship relationshipmust have a point of referenceon a line of ascent, namely an ancestor,so that kinship relationshiphas always a time-connotation conceived of in structuralterms. The brotherbrother relationshipis a lineage unit conceived in a differentdimension to the father-sonrelationshipand represented by a horizontalline instead of a vertical one. The relationships are, however, interdependent. The point to be emphasizedis that the social distance between any two existing agnates is always strictly in proportion to the social distancethat separatesthem from a common ancestor. The depth of lineages is thereforealways a function of the rangeto which agnatic kinship is recognized in any generation. The concept of lineages gives a special dimension to a group of agnatic kinsmen. It gives them that depth in time which provides an explanation of their inter-relationships. Diagrammatically,the agnatic structureof a group of kinsmen is perhapsbest represented, as opposite, by a triangle formed by a base line representinga given group of living agnates, and two dotted lines, representing their ghostly agnaticforebears,runningfrom this base to a point in lineage structure,the common ancestorof every memberof the group. The farther we extend the range of the group (the longer becomes the base line) the fartherback in lineage structureis the common ancestor (the fartherfrom the base line is the apex of the triangle). The dotted lines of the trianglesin the diagramopposite are thus time-depthsof three extensions of agnatic relationshipon an existential plane and the three triangles represent major, minor, and minimal lineages. Lineage-timeis thus the social distancebetween any personsor groups of persons on the line AB. European time is a continuum. Whatever point we start at, each succeeding generation increases the distance from that point. Our grandfatherswere nearer to io66 than our fathers and our fathers

NUER TIME-RECKONING

213

were nearer to io66 than we are. The Nuer system of lineages, on the other hand, seems to be a fixed system having a constantnumber of steps between living personsand the founder of their clan. Actually these steps increase from generation to generation, but structurally they do not increase. I cannot prove this assertion,but a comparative studyof EastAfricangenealogiesgives it a high degreeof probability.I shallnot cite that comparative evidence here, but I list some significant facts about Nuer lineageswhich point to the truth of the assertion: (i) All the main clans have about ten to twelve generationsfrom
/ \

/ // / /
/ /

\\ \

/ /

\
\

\
\

/ / //
/

\ \
\ \ \ \\

/ /
/ / / /,

\ \
\ \ \

the present day to the ancestorswho gave rise to them. There is no reason to suppose that the Nuer came into existence ten to twelve generationsago. (2) When a Nuer is asked his lineage he gives it by referenceto an ancestor,the founder of his minimallineage, who is from three to six, generally four to five, steps in ascent from the present day. These since five steps are certain and agreed upon. This is understandable, and his grandfather's steps representa man, his father,his grandfather father and grandfather,and since a man instructshis childrenin the names of his immediateforebears. It is evident that afterfive or six generationsthe namesof ancestorsbecome lost. Young men often do not know them and there is frequent confusion and disagreement among older persons. The founderof the minorlineagemust be placed somewhere between the founder of the minimal lineage and the founder of the majorlineage; the founder of the major lineage must be placed somewhere between the founder of the minor lineage and

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NUER TIME-RECKONING

the founder of the maximallineage; and the founder of the maximal lineage must be placed somewherebetween the founder of the major lineage and the founder of the clan. The names of these founders of lineage-branches must go into the line of ascent somewhere,and in a definiteorder,becausethey aresignificant pointsof reference.It is immaterialwhether other names go in or not and their order is without significance. Consequently,some informantsput them in and some leave them out, and some put them in one order and others in a differentorder. It is, moreover,evident that, since the minimallineage consistsof four or five actualsteps in ascent,therehas been telescoping of the agnaticline from the founder of the minimallineagefartherup the line of ascentto the founderof the clan,for the founderof the minimallineagewas himselfthe extremityof anotherminimallineagewhich has, by increasein generations,become the minor lineage, and so on. Consequently,even were the supposed founder of the clan the real founder of it there ought to be at least sixteen steps from him to the present day. The length of each fork in the tree of descent ought logically to be of equal length, whereas the twig, so to speak, is longer than the branchor stem from which it springs. This argument dependsfor its validity on the assumptionthat minimallineages have always displayedthe same characteristics. (3) There is another way in which only significant ancestors, i.e. ancestorswho form the apex of a triangleof descent, are denoted in genealogical trees and irrelevantancestors, i.e. ancestors who do not give their name to a group of descendants, are obscured and finally forgotten. Not only do links drop out of the direct line of descent but also collaterallines merge. It is clear from a study of Nuer genealogiesthat the descendantsof one or two brothersbecome numerousand dominant,that descendantsof others die out, and that descendants of yet others are relatively few and weak and attach themselves, by participationin local and corporatelife, to a stronger and dominant collateralline. They become assimilatedto this line in ordinarylineage referenceand eventually are grafted on to it by misplacement of their founder, who becomes a son instead of a brother of its founder. The merging of collaterallines higher up a lineage seems to be common, and to be more frequentand necessary the higher up one proceeds.

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215

There are other points which emerge from a further treatmentof Nuer lineages, but enough has been said to show that not only do Nuer reckon in structuraltime but that this structuraltime is a reflection of ranges of counting kinship. Ranges of counting kinship, are in their turn, in our opinion, functions of social structure as a whole, especiallyof political interrelations. Beyond the limits of historicaltime one enters a plane of tradition which merges at one end into history and at the other end into myth. All tradition,however, is not on the sametime-level, for traditions record events which have to some extent order in time. Here again, however, there can be little doubt that the time perspectiveis not a true impression of actual distancesin time, like that createdby determined. Traditionsreflect our datingtechnique,but is structurally actual relations between lineages and the occurrences of the events they record have, therefore,to be placed at points where the lineages concerned converge in their lines of ascent, or, looked at from a differentangle, where they divide in their lines of descent. Traditions have, consequently,a position in structurebut no exact position in time as we understandit. Beyond traditionlies the horizon of myth which is always seen in the same time perspective. One mythologicalevent did not precede another mythological event, for myths are not stratifiedby structure. The explanationsof any qualities of nature or of culture are drawn from this intellectualambientwhich imposes limits on the Nuer world and makes it self-containedand entirely intelligible to them in the relations of its parts. The world and human customs alike were createdby God on an undifferentiated plane. time dimensionof this Nuer world the about one most Whatstrikes are its narrow limits. Valid history ends a centuryago and tradition, generouslymeasured,takesus back only to the beginningsof lineages, i.e. some ten to twelve generations. If we are right in supposing that lineagesnever extend beyond ten to twelve generationsit follows that the distance between the beginning of the world and the present day remains an unalterabledistance. Consequently,even if time is perceived by Nuer as a continuum-I would not care to express an opinion on that question-it is not a culturalcontinuumas it is with us, but is a constant structuralrelationshipbetween two points, the

zi6

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first and the last persons in lines of agnatic descent, between which there is a fixed distance. Consequently,though it astounded me, it to Nuer, that the tree under which mankind is in no way remarkable came into being was still standingin Western Nuerlanda few years ago and would still be standinghad it not recentlybeen burnt down. B. B. EVANS-PRITCHARD. Re'sume
LE COMPUT DU TEMPS CHEZ LES NUER LEsNUERparientdu temps surtout en des termesq{ui exprimentle changementdes activite's sociales et des relations. Nous pouvons diviser leurs idees au sujet du temps en clistingant celles qui se rapportent principalement 'a leurs rapports avec le milieu d'une part, et de I'autre celles qui se rapportent aux relations individuelles 'al'int6&ieur de la socie'te. Le comput du temps fonde' sur les changements dans le climat et l'attitude de 1'homme 'a leur e'gard sont inte'gr6s dans un cycle annuel 'a l'inte&ieur duquel on trouve des pe'iodes particuli'eres. L'anne6e est divise'e en deux saisons principales, en deux saisons accessoires et en douze mois. Chaque mois a trente jours et trente nuits et chaque nuit et chaque jour a certaines appellations linguistiques. Cependant les Nuer con~oivent ces divisions momns'acause des changements physiques qu'ils expriment par des termes speciaux, qu'"acause des activite's sociales qu'ils de'signent en termes momnspre6cis, notamment en ce qui touche les occupations saisonni'eres et lunaires et la vie pastorale quotidienne autour du village et en transhumances. La mani'ere de reconnai'tre le temps est en somme fonde'e en de6finitive sur les mouvements des copsclestes qui fournissent directement ou indirectement aux Nuer l'id' d'anne's, de saisons, de mois, de jours, de nuits et des diverses parties du jour et des changements dans les activite's et c' est en se de la nuit. Tout cela de'termnine ref6rant 'acelles-ci que leur horloge et leur calendrier ont 't construits. Les anne'es sont ge6neralement de'signe'espar un ra-ppelde 1'endroit oi'iont e'e place's les campements de saison s&ehe et des diff&rentescirconstances qui se sont produites durant le seijour. C'est pourquoi il n'existe pas de syst'eme pre'cis pour dater les anne'es; chaque partie du pays Nuer a sa propre me'thode fonde'e sur des re'frences choisies dans sa propre histoire. Cependant la mani'ere la plus habituelle d'indiquer 1'epoque oui certains e'venements se sont produits est de les comparer avec 1'age des personnes et cela non pas en comptant les annees,, mais en indiquant leurs relations avec certains groupes de personnes. L'interval entre les e6venements est la relation qui existe entre les personnes d'un certain 'age et les personnes d'un autre age. On peut encore de'terminer le temps en employant le syst'eme ge'nealogique. Les e'venements s'int'earent en un certain point de la structure clanique en ce sens que chaque personne dans la ge'nealogie du clan constitue un point significatif de ref6rence. Comme la position d'un individu dans les ge'n'alogies est fonction de la par les filiations parent6 agnatique entre ses descendants vivants, le temps de6compte' indique par de6duction le degre' auquel la parente' actuelle est reconnue. L'horizon sur lequel se deugagele mythe; et sur ce plan tous les du temps est I'arri"ere-plan evenements sont apergus suivant la Meme perspective.