Appendix II: The idea of topogeny and its use in the origin narratives of the Rotenese

A topogeny is like a genealogy. A genealogy consists of a successive recitation of names; a topogeny involves a successive recitation of places. Both are vehicles for the transmission of highly specific knowledge. As such, both genealogy and topogeny figure prominently as poetic devices in oral literature throughout the world. Both are a feature of the oral recitations of the Rotenese.

In my introduction to The Poetic Power of Place, ‘Place and Landscape in Comparative Austronesian Perspective’ (Fox 1997b: 8–12), I introduced the idea of a topogeny and illustrated its expression and function in Austronesian societies and, more widely, in a variety of other oral literary contexts.

Some of the most extensive Austronesian topogenies occur in the origin narratives of the Atoni Pah Meto of Timor. These recitations relate the successive exploits of named ancestors as they journey through a complex landscape of dual-named places, all in a form of parallel verse like that of the Rotenese:

The fields of Oe Ana

The hill of Oe Ana

To stop there a while

To rest there a while

Then rising and going …

Coming directly to Oebaki

By way of the rock Oehun

Then coming and entering

To the place of Ponain

To the meeting spot of Fatu Mnanu.¹

In many Timorese recitations, topogeny is so extensive and so interspersed with the continuing narrative that it carries the weight of the entire composition, conveying knowledge of a detailed landscape of ancestral actions.

A similar and more extensive use of topogeny occurs in the ritual recitations of the Sa’dan Toraja of Sulawesi. For the commemorative ceremony of buffalo sacrifice known as the Merok, the recitation by the poet–priests (to mina) is largely devoted to summoning gods and spirits in order of their rank and importance. This ritual recitation includes the principal gods, then the gods of the four directions as well as the gods of the nine levels of the firmament. When these gods have been summoned, the recitation calls forth the gods of all the local regions. This produces a stunning topogeny that runs for 81 coupled lines, with each couplet naming the invitee by title as ‘God’ and ‘Lord’ (Deata//Puangna) and by dual-named location. This topogeny takes the following form:

The God of the territory of the Leatung region

The Lord of the district of Mangkaranga

The God of the territory of the Patua’ region

The Lord of the district of Mila’

The God of the territory of the Buntao’ region

The Lord of the district of Paniki.

(van der Veen 1965: 53)

In some Austronesian oral traditions, the versatility in the use of topogenies allows both the summoning of spirits and ancestors by location and the recounting of their journeys through a named landscape (see Lewis 1988b: 113).

The oldest recorded topogeny

Topogenies of varying sorts are found extensively in the world’s oral traditions. One of the earliest recorded topogenies can be found in a cuneiform text of some 400 poetic lines of a harp lament for the destruction of the Sumerian capital of Ur that appears to have been used in a ritual for the restoration of Ur dating to about 1940 BCE.

The entire lament comprises 413 lines, almost all in strict canonical parallelism, and contains two separate topogenies. The first half of the poem is a lament by the god of Ur at the suffering endured when Ur was destroyed and has more than one topogeny. This first topogeny can be described as a recitation of abandonment. The invasion by the Elamites is likened to a storm in which a shepherd is forced to abandon his byre and sheepfold. The storm strikes one Sumerian city after another and destroys its temple, forcing the god or goddess of that city to abandon it. The topogeny is thus an ordered recitation of the cities of Sumer, the main temple in each city and the gods that held sway in those temples.

The topogeny begins with the following stanza:

His byre he was abandoning,

and his sheepfold, to the winds

the herder was abandoning his byre

and his sheepfold, to the winds,

the lord of all lands was abandoning it

and his sheepfold to the winds,

at the temple close Enlil was abandoning Nippur

and his sheepfold to the winds,

his consort Ninlil was abandoning it

and her sheepfold, to the winds

at their dwelling house, Ninlil was abandoning Kiur

and its sheepfold, to the winds.

These first lines establish the recurrent canonical formula that constitutes the topogeny. Examples of this formula are as follows:

Isin’s mistress was abandoning it

and her sheepfold, to the winds

at its temple close Nininsina was abandoning Kesh

and her sheepfold to the winds.

Uruk land’s queen was abandoning it

and her sheepfold, to the winds

at its dwelling house Inanna was abandoning Uruk

and her sheepfold, to the winds.

This formula is then repeated to produce an ordered progress—a procession—of gods and goddesses, each of whom abandons their city and temple: 1) Enlil abandons Nippur, 2) Ninlil abandons Kiur, 3) Ninmah abandons Kesh, 4) Nininsina abandons Egalmah, 5) Nanna abandons Ekishnugal at Ur, 6) (his wife) Ningal abandons Agrunkug at Ur, 7) Enki abandons Eridu, 8) Shara abandons Emma at Umma, 9) (his wife) abandons Udsahara at Umma, 10) Baba abandons Urukug, 11) (her mother) Abbaba abandons Gaguenna (at Urukug), 12) ‘the cherub’ abandons Etarsirsir (at Urukug), 13) Gatumdug abandons Lagash, 14) Nanshe abandons Siratr at Nina, 15) Dumuzi-Apsu abandons Kinirsha, and 16) Ninmara abandons Guabba.²

This same cuneiform text contains a second topogeny, which continues the lament of destruction, proceeding through the temples and cities of Sumer with their gods and goddesses:

Brickwork of Ur, bitter is the wail

the wail is set up for you!

Ekishnugal, bitter is the wail,

the wail is set up for you!

Temple close Agrunkug, bitter is the wail

the wail is set up for you!

Brickwork of Ekur, bitter is the wail,

the wail is set up for you.

The ‘catalogue of ships’ in the ‘Iliad’

Possibly the best-known topogeny in Classical literature is the so-called catalogue of ships in the Iliad. This topogeny in Book II of the Iliad runs for several hundred lines and identifies the ports, lands and islands with the ships and the leaders of the Achaean forces that sailed to Troy:

Those of Boetia had as their commanders

Clonius, Leitus, Peneleus

Arceslaus and Prothoenor.

They came from Graea, wide Mycalessus

Hryia, rocky Aulis, Schoenus, Scolus,

Thespia, Harma, hilly Eteonus

Eilesion, Erythrae, Eleon,

Hyle, Peteon, Ocalea, Copae,

Glisa, the citadel of Medeon.³

A similar, shorter topogeny lists the ships and origins of the Trojan forces, creating, as some have argued, a complex map of the ancient Aegean Sea.

Like Rotenese topogenies, all these very different topogenies link places with specific personages or groups in an ordered succession, generally by the use of recognisable formulae.

Rotenese topogenies from Termanu

There are two long topogenies in the oral narratives of Termanu: one in Recitation 7 and the other in Recitation 8 (Chapter 4, this volume). The accompanying exegeses to the recitations in this volume offer a step-by-step discussion of the meaning of the various passages that occur in these two topogenies, but such specific commentaries do not provide an adequate understanding of the structure of these compositions as a whole nor of their relationship to one another.

Both topogenies recount the female transmission of key cultural knowledge: Recitation 7 recounts the transmission from one woman to another of the knowledge of the planting of rice and millet and Recitation 8 recounts the transmission of the knowledge of tie-dyeing and weaving that is spread across the island of Rote. Crucial to these two recitations is the naming of places but also the naming of the women involved in this transmission process. Critically, the names of these women allude to the locations from which they come and are thus also markers of place. In both recitations, there is a similar litany of the principal ritual names of the domains of the island interspersed between names of additional places, particularly in the domain of Termanu.

The topogeny in Recitation 7

The topogeny in Recitation 7 is concerned with the spread of the planting of rice and millet.⁴ It recounts in an ordered succession the field of local importance known for the production, particularly of rice, along with the names of the women who transfer the knowledge of planting from one locality to the next. In some instances, women are cited without reference to a specific area of planting. However, these women’s names allude to their place of origin and thus continue to progress the topogeny in an ordered direction.

As an oral composition, this topogeny is variable in how it presents its corresponding knowledge. Women’s names occur without placenames and placenames occur without women’s names. Since both women’s names and placenames are closely linked, the knowledge conveyed by this topogeny would be evident to its local audience.

As required in all parallel-language recitations, the names of places and of the women of these places are given in dual format. This schema identifies a confluence of women’s names and ritual sites of plantation and the domains within these names are pertinent. The topogeny begins with the woman Masu Pasu//He Hai, who scoops up the sea creatures Doli Mo//Lutu Mala at the fish catch of Tena Lai//Mae Oe. The topogeny then shifts to planting sites on the island, proceeding westward along the northern coast of Rote before swinging around and moving eastward along the southern coast of the island, eventually arriving back at Tena Lai//Mae Oe.

In Chapter 2 of this volume, there is a list of the domains (nusak) of Rote identified by principal ritual names with a map of the location of these domains (Map 2.1). All the principal ritual names of the domains are cited in this topogeny but because domains have a variety of ritual names, this topogeny cites other domain names as well.

In what follows, I provide a schematic synopsis of this topogeny to compare it with the similar topogeny that occurs in Recitation 8.

Schematic synopsis of the topogeny in Recitation 7

Women’s names	Ritual sites	Domain
Masu Pasu//He Hai	Tunga Oli//Namo Ina	Korbaffo
Fi Bau//Seda Kola	Bau Peda Dele//Kola Sifi Ndai	Termanu
Kada Ufa//Dila Latu	—	Termanu
Hau Hala//Kae Kopa	—	Termanu
Leli Onge//Fula Fopo	—	Termanu
Soe Leli//Pinga Pasa	—	Termanu
Fiti Nggoli//Lole Bako	Bako Bau Dale//Nggoli Kai Tio	Termanu
Dulu Kilik//Leo Lasuk	Ki Lama//Le Ina	Termanu
Pinga Peto//Lu’a Lela	Peto Lesi-Ama//Lela Bala-Fia	Termanu
	Pena Pua//Maka Lama	Ba’a
Loe Tesa//Dilu Tama	Tanga Loi//Oe Mau	Ba’a
Dae Mea Iko//Oe Ange Muli	Dae Mea//Tete Lifu	Dengka
Tete Kefa//Kali Solu	Dela Muli//Ana Iko	Delha
Meda Afe//Fai Nggengge	Nale Dene//Nada Dona	Oenale
Foi Lama//Teku Tada	Tada Muli//Lene Kona	Thie
	Tuda Meda//Do Lasi	Thie
	Teke Dua//Finga Telu	Loleh
Tui Beba//Oe Ange	Ninga Ladi//Hengu Hena	Loleh
Neu Lopo//Neu Nggele	Tufa Laba//Ne’e Feo	Keka
	Pila Sue//Nggeo Deta	Keka
	Longa Fa//Feo Ne	Talae
	Sosolo Lean Daen//Batu Tanga Lou	Talae [?]
Toin Dae//Le Kama	Ko Solo//Nilu Foi	Bokai
	Keko Nesu//Te Alu	Bokai
	Medi//Ndule	Bokai
Poko Tasi//Silu Meti	Lenu Petu//Safe Solo	Lelenuk
	Diu Dulu//Kana Langa	Diu
Leo Lata//Adu Pinga	Pele Pou//Nggafu Lafa	Diu
	Sapan Daen Oe Utuk//Seun Oen Fi Bolo	Diu [?]
Nggeo Lao//Pila Selu	Pengo Dua//Hilu Telu	Bilba
	Feni Fi//Tane Bau [D]	Bilba
Oko Beba//Tui Lele	Londa Lusi//Batu Bela	Ringgou
	Saba Lai//Dele Bui	Ringgou
	Tua Nae//Lele Beba	Ringgou
Meda Afe//Fai Nggengge	Fai Fua//Ledo So’u	Oepao
Kao Kai//Pena Ufa	Lifa Lama//Lutu Oen	Oepao
Liti Lifu//Henu Helok	Soti Mori//Bola Tena	Landu
	Tena Lai//Mae Oe

The topogeny in Recitation 8

The topogeny in Recitation 8 recounts the spread of tie-dyeing and weaving and of the patterns that originate from the bodies of Shark and Crocodile, Pata Iuk and Dula Foek, who are killed and whose blood and insides are strewn across the tiny island of Ndao. On this island, Folo Manu//Ndao Nusa, off the western tip of Rote, the woman Haba Ndao//Lida Folo buys the shuttle and loom from the turtle and sea cow, Kea Saik//Lui Liuk, and proceeds to design patterns based on the remains of Pata Iuk and Dula Foek.

The topogeny in Recitation 8 describes by name the succession of women from neighbouring domains on Rote, each of whom, in turn, obtains the knowledge (and implements) of tie-dyeing and weaving and passes them on from one to another across the island.

The topogeny records the transfer of this knowledge from the island of Ndao to the western end of Rote and then proceeds through different clusters of domains, until all the domains have obtained these arts. The initial progress of this topogeny is eastward but, having reached domains in the east of the island, it swings back to include domains along part of the southern coast. This topogeny repeats the principal names of the domains of Rote, in some cases citing more than one ritual name for many of the domains.

While the ritual names of the domains are the same in both recitations, the names of the women in this topogeny (with one exception: Pinga Pasa//Soe Leli in Termanu) are different. Essentially, this topogeny relates a distinct succession of female transmission of knowledge from that in Recitation 7.

The topogeny ends with an invocation of the entire island of Rote by one of its most elaborate ritual names: Lote Lolo Ei//Kale Ifa Lima (‘Lote of the Outstretched Legs and Kale of the Cradled Arms’).

Schematic synopsis of the topogeny in Recitation 8

Women’s names	Ritual sites	Domain
Haba Ndao//Lida Folo	Folo Manu//Ndao Nusa	Ndao
Sio Meko//Tesa Kola	Dela Muli//Ana Iko	Delha
Ango Beu//Baba Dela	Tasi Puka//Li Sonu	Oenale
Oe Ange Muli//Dae Mea Iko	Lutu Mau//Holo Tula	Dengka
Teo Tada//Leo Lene	Lene Kona//Tada Muli	Thie
Oe Ange//Dusi Beba	Ninga Ladi//Hengu Hena	Loleh
Nggede Ke//Dane Nane	Tilo Nesi//Ose Mbok	Lelain
Hulu Nggela//Seu Loko	Tufa Laba//Ne’e Feo	Keka
Loe Tesa//Dilu Tama	Pena Pua//Maka Lama	Ba’a
Lole Bako//Fiti Nggoli	Boko Lino//Hoi Ledo	Termanu
Soe Leli//Pinga Pasa	Leli Papo Ama//Sani Solo Be	Termanu
Tesa Nggusi//Tama Nggala	Pinga Dale//Nggusi Bui	Termanu
	Koli//Buna	Termanu
Lutu Namo//Heu Oli	Asa Nao//Bole Sou	Korbaffo
	Namo Ina//Tunga Oli	Korbaffo
Henu Helok//Liti Lifu	Tena Lai//Mae Oe	Landu
Tui Beba//Doko Meti	Londa Lusi//Batu Bela	Ringgou
Afe Ledo//Nggenge Fai	Pao Kala//Pena Ufa	Oepao
	Fai Fua//Ledo Sou	Oepao
Nggeo Lao//Pila Selu	Tane Bau//Feni Fiu	Bilba
	Hilu Telu//Pengo Du	Bilba
Leo Lata//Adu Pinga	Pele Pou//Nggafu Lafa	Diu
Poko Tasi//Solu Meti	Lenu Petu//Safe Solo	Lelenuk
	Kokote//Sonimanu	Lelenuk
Le Fango//Tui Daen	Medi//Ndule	Bokai
	Ko So//Nilu Foi	Bokai
Fula Seda//Sao Tangi	Nggeo Deta//Pila Sue	Talae
	Lona Fa//Feo Ue	Talae
	Lote Lolo Ei//Kale Ifa Lima	Rote

Topogenies in the recitations of Thie

In contrast with the topogenies in the recitations of Termanu, those in the recitations of Thie are relatively brief and seemingly focused on places within that domain. They are concerned mainly with the planting of the first seeds, particularly rice. In Thie, there are three recitations that relate the origins of planting: Recitations 4, 5 and 6 (Thie’s Recitations 4 and 6 correspond to Termanu’s Recitation 9, while Thie’s Recitation 5 is similar to Termanu’s Recitation 7).

In Recitation 4 (Chapter 6, this volume), there are eight lines (153–60) that list sites to which the woman Bui Len//Eno Lolo carries the shells Suti Solo//Bina Bane. These named places are: 1) Deras//Le Lena, 2) Mundek//Na’u Dalek, 3) Rote//Kode Ana, 4) Oe Batu//Bau Foe, 5) Kone Ama//Sai Fua, 6) Nggonggoe//Lasi Lai, and 7) Liti//Sera Dale. These are fields in Thie where the first planting occurs.

Recitation 6 also recounts the transfer of the shells Suti Solo//Bina Bane. In it, there occurs a minimal topogeny that cites two of the same places of planting mentioned in Recitation 4. Successful planting occurs first at Fafa’e Tali Somba//Teke Me Re’ik Oen, then at Mundek//Na’u Dale and then Nggonggoer//Lasi Lain. Two ‘composite’ names are cited to represent the whole island. The first, Ledo So’u//Anda Iko (literally, ‘Sun’s Rise and Land’s Tail’), signifies the island from east to west while the second name, Pena Pua//Rene Kona—using the parts of the dual ritual names for Ba’a (Pena Pua//Maka Lama) and for Thie (Rene Kona//Tada Muli)—signifies the island from north to south.

Recitation 5 (lines 100–48) also contains a short topogeny. Ku Eo Iko//Tai Le Muri takes the crab Bole Sou and the sea snail Asa Nao, plants them and they sprout as rice and millet. These plants are harvested and then planted, first, at Beu Bolu//Le’a So’o and then, at Landu Kona//Tena Serik within Thie. This becomes an occasion for celebration, after which the seeds of these crops are transferred to the rest of Rote. Again, this transfer is represented by general ritual names for the east and west of the island and not by a systematic listing of the island’s domains. The topogeny cites Timu Dulu//Sepe Langga (‘Dawning East’//‘Reddening Head’), Dulu Oen//Langga Daen (‘Eastern Waters’//‘Head Lands’) and Muri Loloe Olin//Iko Beku-te Tasin (‘West Descending to the Estuary’//‘Tail Bending to the Sea’).

Together, the short litanies of named places in Thie’s Recitations 4, 5 and 6 are at best minor topogenies, hardly in the order of those in Recitations 7 and 8 from Termanu.

The topogeny of the planting of Christianity

The use of topogeny has been retained in the tradition of Christian oral narratives. At the jubilee ceremony in Thie in 1997, there was a special recitation of the narrative known as Sanga Ndolu ma Tunga Lela, which recounts the Rotenese quest for Christianity. Relying on a botanic idiom, Christianity is represented as the Bau-Molek//Tui Sodak (‘The Bau Tree of Peace’//‘The Tui Tree of Wellbeing’) planted at Dano Heo//Le Kosi (‘Lake Dano’//‘River Kosi’) in Thie. The spread of Christianity is then represented as the planting of these trees throughout the island. The accompanying topogeny is a well-recognised litany of the ritual names of all the domains of Rote and Ndao. The topogeny’s listing of names moves eastward from Thie and then from Landu in the east shifting westward to encompass Termanu and the domains in western Rote. This topogeny, in Termanu dialect, demonstrates the continuation and recognition throughout the island of the principal ritual names that form the basis of Rote’s most insistent topogenies.⁵

Ritual name	Domain
Tuda Meda//Do Lasi	Thie
Teke Dua//Finga Telu	Loleh
Tanga Loi//Oe Mau	Ba’a
Pila Sue//Nggeo Deta	Talae
Tufa Laba//Ne’e Feo	Keka
Meda//Ndule	Bokai
Lenu Petu//Safe Solo	Lelenuk
Diu Dulu//Kana Langa	Diu
Pengo Dua//Hilu Telu	Bilba
Londa Lusi//Batu Bela	Ringgou
Fai Fua//Ledo So’u	Oepao
Soti Mori//Bola Tena	Landu
Tunga Oli//Namo Ina	Korbaffo
Koli do Buna	Termanu
Tefu Buna//Nggafu Huni	Lelain
Dae Mea//Tete Lifu	Dengka
Tasi Puka//Li Sonu	Oenale
Dela Muri//Anda Iko	Delha
Ndao Nusa//Folo Manu	Ndao

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1. 1 This is an excerpt of a nakanab or natoni recitation that I recorded from the Meto chanters Nicodemus Sau and Nicolas Puay on a brief visit to Lasi in the mountains of West Timor. For a discussion of these origin narratives and their topogenies, see McWilliam (1997; 2002: 71–97).

2. 2 This lament is recorded in Jacobsen (1987: 447–74). I have written a yet unpublished paper on this exemplary text (Fox n.d.).

3. 3 These lines are taken from Emily Wilson’s verse translation of the Iliad (Homer 2023: 42, lines 593 ff.).

4. 4 I have already discussed aspects of this topogeny in Fox (1997c), tracing its progression around the island of Rote. This examination is intended to compare this topogeny specifically with that in Recitation 8, which moves in a different direction but also encompasses the entire island and its constituent domains.

5. 5 There is also clear continuity at the level of individual poets. The poet chiefly responsible for this topogeny was Esau Pono, who was personally acquainted with the poet Peu Malesi, who often relied on topogeny in his recitations, as in the case of Recitation 7 from Termanu.