The Sacrifice of Flesh and Blood: Male Circumcision in Ibandla lamaNazaretha as a Biblical and African Ritual

Abstract

Male circumcision is an African phenomenon that has been in existence for thousands of years, dating back to the pre-colonial era. The Zulu King Shaka (1790-1828) put an end to this practice for the Zulus; but Isaiah Shembe (1870-1935) brought it back. However, the kind of circumcision that Isaiah Shembe reinstated is a hybrid form, combining the precolonial ritual practice as a rite of passage and the Israelites’ biblical one based on Abraham’s covenant with God in Genesis 17:10-14.