Fertility

An Akan story tells us that many years ago there lived a woman named Akura who was trying to have a baby. When she did not become pregnant, she asked a carver to make a wooden doll, which she carried on her back like a baby. Soon, Akura became pregnant.

According to the story, many women followed her example. If an Akan woman could not have a child, she would consult a priest. He might advise her to have an Akuaba carved, to treat it like her own child, and to decorate it with precious beads in order to help her get pregnant.

ODYSSEY HOME NEAR EAST Egypt GREECE ROME

© Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University,
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester and Dallas Museum of Art
For more information please contact odyssey@emory.edu.
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