Pante Teungoh — Achehnese for “Middle Bank” — is a locality (gampong or river-bank) in the neighbourhood of the Achehnese capital, mentioned in The Achehnese Vol. I in a ritual dialogue (rampai) cited by Snouck Hurgronje.
The Ritual Dialogue
The locality is invoked in a pair of complementary Achehnese ceremonial verses, in which the speakers identify their position by reference to the products of particular spots. One party recites:
In the field of Tama’ is petroleum. In Pante Teungoh (“Middle Bank”) is perfumed oil. Stand no longer on the ground, Teuku, Ascend into the house and sit upon the sitting mat.
To which the reply comes:
Let us go the sea-shore to catch the cuttle-fish, Let us bring it home and salt it. For this evening let us even remain on the ground.
The Symbolism of Place
The verse presents Pante Teungoh as a place associated in popular imagination with perfumed oil — a product of refinement and of ceremonial — just as the field of Tama’ is associated with petroleum. The point of the dialogue lies in the contrast: the speakers are reminded that, though they stand on the ground near these symbolic places, the time has come to mount into the house and to take their place upon the sitting-mat. Pante Teungoh thus functions, in the poetic geography of the Achehnese rampai, as a landmark of the metropolitan district, associated with one of the luxury products of the country.
A Topography of the Old Capital
Pante Teungoh — the “Middle Bank” — takes its name from its position upon one of the water-courses of the capital district, perhaps the Acheh River or one of its branches. The name is paralleled by the many Achehnese place-names formed with pante (bank, shore) and a qualifying adjective: it denotes, as it were, the middle reach of a stream, between the upper and the lower banks, and so a central locality in the topography of the old capital.
See Also
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.