gile knife of the Afar people?

[hudson078]

hi everybody! :)

i've got this knife few days ago and i'd like to know more about this beacuse i'm not sure what is it exactly.
last weekend i visited an old friend and i found this knife in his basement and he told me that is coming from Morocco. a french man gave it to him long time ago who probably bought this knife in Morocco.
my friend wasn't interested in antiques and he just gave me this weapon :)
after i google the moroccan knives and it didn't match, those are completely different. then i tried with african knives and i found something similar on this site. it seems i have an afar gile :)
what do you think about it?

[kahnjar1]

Yes an Ethiopian GILE. Here are a couple of pics from earlier posts and if you use the SEARCH function and key GILE you will find a lot more.
Stu

[hudson078]

thx!
i found some post here in the forums and there is a lot of information about the Afars on the net. i'm not a collector nor an expert but i will keep this knife.
it's good to have something from a different culture what is coming from the Danakil desert what is the most cruel place on Earth.
it's reminds me that nothing is impossible :) i really liked this piece, the craft, simplicity and the esthetic.
does anyone know how old is it?
originally it was a little bit lighter but i cleand up because there was a lot of dirt and dust on it. i used water with some soap and then i oiled(olive)the sheath and the handle(hard wood oil). now it looks much better :)
regards

[Kubur]

Hi,
Yes in fact they live to the East of Ethiopia, in the Afra region.
Most likely between Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia.
The Gile is an African version of the Yemeni jambiya.
Enjoy the photos!
Best,
Kubur

[hudson078]

wow! thank you for the pictures! :)
probably the most ancient African tribes may be the Afar or Danakil tribe.
the new discoveries are proving that Ethiopia is the birthplace of humankind :)

[hudson078]

our roots :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELCl43Yfg4o