CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Usiququmadevu

monster from Zulu mythology

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 15, 2025
Entity authorityQ7902000 ↗
Source-derived summary

Usiququmadevu or Isiququmadevu is a creature from Zulu mythology. She is a bearded, bloated monster who eats every living thing she comes across.

Usiququmadevu is said to have a husband of the same name.

Legend

According to legend, one day she came upon the children of a chief. As they were unguarded, she quickly swallowed them. The chief discovered what had happened and instantly set out to find her. Soon he did and killed her by stabbing her in the hump; his children emerged unscathed from her mouth.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Usiququmadevu” as monster from Zulu mythology. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 88-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Usiququmadevu, monster and Zulu can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as monster from Zulu mythology. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7902000. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Usiququmadevu”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Usiququmadevu primary sources, Usiququmadevu archive and Usiququmadevu research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Usiququmadevu”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Usiququmadevu” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.