African sword, Unusual Handle, Akokonan? or?
 

I recently Acquired this sword, I have since discovered It was on the forum previously, I have a theory on the Handle some may find interesting. I am open to hear any further ideas or alternate theories. I will explain my main interpretation of the figural handle after posting photos.

more photos

more photos ..

more photos...

images for thought

My theory in notes..

Very interesting theory. Would explain many of the stylistic motifs on many African weapons, and would establish a common symbolic language across seemingly disparate designs.

This is a quote from numerous websites:" "The hen treads on her chicks, but she does not kill them." This represents the ideal nature of parents, being both protective and corrective"

An interesting philosophy to be applied to weapons. A ruler (of a state, tribe, village, or family) might use force to protect their own and or maintain order.

A very interesting piece, I have been searching all the books I have for anything similar but have found nothing. However I could add some more speculation. The blade looks like one of those long arm knife blade but I do not think it is or related to them. The picture {panga na visu. Kurzwaffen, geschmiedete Kultgegenstande und Schilde aus Afrika. Manfred A Zirngibl & Alexander Kubetz. Publisher HePelo Verlag 2009} I post here might be a pointer. The scabbard has the look and construction of weapons from the Cameroon and western borders. The hilts in the picture could be related and perhaps your piece maybe some variant as most often with African pieces you are always looking at large areas of peoples with much crossover of culture and language. Worth a look anyway.

...every morning in Africa, as soon as the sun rises, a blacksmith finds a way to make a mysterious sword, for the sole purpose of driving some Western collectors crazy ...

Shayde78 thank you for your support, id like to hear what others say about my interpretation of the roosters influence on weapons. there is still a lot I have to say about it...

Tim Simmons, Thank you for taking the time to look for similar pieces,
i don't feel there is much similar between the Tula and my sword, yes the Tula and my sword both look like Celtic antenna swords, but I don't feel any true connections.

Duccio, I think you comment is a little foolish, do the blacksmiths use antique scabbards every day, also to drive the westerners crazy.
I could easily say everyday in Africa the sun rises, a rooster calls, a blacksmith who is regarded in Africa as a magician works the elements, and using the skills of his ancestors, builds a piece with real soul and magical intent without a concern for the westerner who is blind to a world of magic. and I can say every day in the west a foolish person throws out an antique relic, or a cultural treasure, because they assume stuff coming from other countries are only made to fool a westerner ..,
lets not generalize, do you feel what you said is particular to my sword, you could be specific. you could explain why? something specific about the sword or theory?, or because you have a negative view of African blacksmiths?, or because you haven't seen this before? your comment kind of detracts and belittles, instead of disagreeing.

My comment was meant to be a joke, from a poor collector of African blades who would like to get to know that world in depth but who occasionally has to collide with mysterious objects, such as the one you present here.
I was referring to a famous African proverb, quoted by Christopher McDougall:
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

I assure you that I had no intention of making fun of anyone, much less the African blacksmiths, on the contrary I intended to emphasize the vastness and depth of a world whose understanding, just as Westerners, often eludes us completely.
I repeat, I did not mean to offend anyone; if it did not, I deeply apologize.

Duccio sorry if I jumped to conclusions. It is not possible to tell if a comment is intended as a joke.. Thank you for clarifying. And for Sharing the Proverb.

No problem, I'm glad that everything is cleared up.
Believe me, I take these objects and those who manufacture them very seriously, but sometimes I feel frustrated, to verify the depth of my ignorance ... and then I cheer myself up with a joke ...
Best wishes.

For what it is worth, I wanted to commend you both for taking the time to 1) address a perceived insult (not always easy to do), 2) respond to the person who felt they were being disrespected (also not always easy to do, 3) doing all this in a respectful manner, and 4) being willing to hear the other person's side of things and come to a resolution. It doesn't always happen, and I felt compelled to acknowledge that the two of you did it well. This is the kind of discourse I have come to expect from this forum (and seems increasingly rare elsewhere), but I never want to take it for granted, so well done to both of you.

shayde 78 thank you for the commendations, this forum has class, I will try not to mess it up too much,

Link to previous discussion on this sword
 

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=dongola

As I had mentioned on the thread linked, the shape of this blade brings to mind Dongola in the Sudan along the Nile. The highly stylized hilt recalls certain anthromorphic swords and weapons to the south, especially in Congo regions. Many of the 'throwing knives' of these areas and into Sudan have these kinds of dramatically stylized shapes, and while many are indeed weapons used as intended, many African weapons are highly symbolic for ceremonial, status and ritual purposes.

With this blade shape, this is clearly not a 'throwing knife', which as noted have these elaborate shapes, its use in status or official bearing seems possible.

Joe, I very much like your ratiocination and thank you for sharing your notes and sketches!!! I knew I had seen this before somewhere, so thanks for bringing it back up, I'd like to get it figured out.

On the 'editoral' notes, guys, nicely handled at keeping the P.C. beast in check. It is hard when we are expressing things anecdotally or in such mediums as in these public venues things can easily be taken wrong.

Just to add more comparative thought, I cannot resist thinking of the so called 'antenna swords' of the late Bronze age Hallstadt culture, these attached are 10th c. BC found near Swiss lake Neuchatel.
Obviously, aside from using von Daniken thinking, it would be beyond tenuous to associate this weapon to these with the chronological and anthropological disparities. However, the similarities are notable.

With my note on the Dongola type blade, here is an example from a collection (c. 1998). Note the crocodile piercing in blade (I have seen another with this feature) and the curious bar across the pommel end of grip. This is mindful of various European forms of baselard from medieval into Renaissance times.

We know that a number of African weapons seem to have evolved atavistically from probably iconographic sources, and it is possible this might be the case, in much the same manner of the baselard type elements.

Further thoughts on the design of the hilt on this sword
 

In continuing reading through resources seeking more information on the possibilities for this sword (orig. post) , the chapter "The Shining Mystery: Throwing Knives of Africa" in "African Arms and Armour" (Christopher Spring, 1993) is most telling.

In this, the nature of these curious and often wildly varying type of weapon is explained, from the often fanciful presumptions described by some Victorian authors, to the more reasonable awareness of their uses in other capacities .

Pitt Rivers, the brilliant anthropologist wrote on these in 1875, and in 1925 Emil Torday wrote on these multibladed 'knives' from the perspectives of the Kuba( Bushong) people.

In 1872, Nachtigal narrated that these types of weapons were largely 'throwing irons' used as a means of exchange, that is currency. This appears to have been the case in numerous tribal societies in these African regions.
In 1925, Thomas prepared a chart trying to classify the various forms.
This seemed to delineate them basically in a northern and southern category with variations in the blade arrangements.

The reason for this foray into the mystery of these 'throwing irons' is that the geometric pattern in this hilt seems quite possibly to be a kind of symmetric arrangement of these weapons, coupled with the type of actual blade used in Dongola.

As we know 'throwing knives' were used in Darfur and Kordofan, mostly in the status and official sense symbolically, it seems this might be some sort of diplomatic example, combining both weapon and the currency or exchange character of the 'shongo' to the south. Here I would note that the Darfur regions were highly active in slaving, which would possibly use this kind of 'exchange' currency, although it would not explain the 'Dongola' type blade, unless such activity incorporated those regions as well.

Just thoughts on the possibilities of 'throwing knife' characteristics as seen on this sword and why they might have been applied to a blade of possible Dongola style.

Thanks again Jim , I like the idea of the occurrence of an atavistically inspired weapon.
Thanks for all the great info and photos also . I find the large round form in the center of the grip of some Celtic swords interesting.
maybe Von daniken and aliens don't need to be invoked.
I don't think we know that much anthropologically about the Celts
weren't there Celtic red hair mummies in Asia?
perhaps maybe in History cultures had a lot more dispersal and interaction.
Didn't the domestic chicken come from the east. and Europe was the last place to get chicken farming. following my interest in the rooster/chicken as the inspiration for weapons, I have found some weapons from India , And some from china.
I will post 2 photos soon, 1 sword has a symbol on the scabbard I am curious about.
also about my sword I would like to mention it is also essentially a two handed sword. I will try to get a picture also, I find the pictures say more than words. the sword design being symmetrical also makes it easy to change hands, as the grip is always facing the right way. the point of balance of the sword is 6 inches forward from the bottom grip. I find the bottom grip quite comfortable. I think this is a very functional design, and perhaps the handle may be older than the blade.

I want to share some of my African research before I move on to the east.
I found the deity Shango of interest as he is associated with the rooster and lightning. I also find the rooster itself mentioned as a deity that shoots lightning. and I find lightning associated with meteorites. so called lightning iron.
I think Africa would have a greater occurrence of meteorites then most other locations. I also had notes somewhere that the Gibeon meteorite was used to make samurai swords in china circa 1838 by Yoshido.
Also Shango is said to have been a human king who burned down his own palace for various reasons... due to his lightning.
I find some similarity between my sword handle and this shango lightning symbol I will post below. Also i will post some Oshe wands, I do think the rooster influence and inspiration has much older origin than shango.

I found weapons from India with the rooster but they are for sale so I wont post them.
Currently I am looking at Chinese swords for any influence of the rooster. I will post 4 pictures, one is a two handed bronze age iron sword with a unique handle, not similar, but it kind of shows the evolution of the handle shapes I think.
the sword with the antenna handle was called a Balkan celt sword, the third sword is an old Chinese sword with simply a similar blade shape, the forth and fifth photos are Jian swords, and I am very curious about the cut out symbol motifs wich vary between swords. Some Jian swords have the motif which looks very like the akoko nan. I am looking to find a Jian with symbol exactly like the akokonan to share I saw one on a YouTube video about a Ming sword.

I think the Jian sword is associated with a bird the Jian, which has interesting myth, it is a bird that has one wing and one eye and needs to find its mate in order to fly.

also I have to post this.. Abraxas... it is rooster related,, whats he holding? just curiously similar shapes and form in general. I dont know of any connection yet, but. it gets me thinking,

never mind i actually just answered my own question.
curious it also resemble most double headed eagles such as in masonry or heraldry .

the two headed bird is now flying in the air (multiples small swirls)

here is a different example of the symbol on a Jian called ceremonial late qing

I cant find any confirmation the Jian bird is actually related to the name Jian given to the sword, but it seems obvious.
even the myth about two birds coming together relates to the weapon and the user.

that each member of the pair must join together if they are to fulfil their potential.

the sword needs a wielder, and the wielder needs a sword.

humans don't have claws, fangs, spikes or poison(or spurs like a chicken/rooster ), were evolved to wield a weapon.

now this is just random musings at this point and will be the last though i share for today. hopefully someone will step in and say something sensible. in the latest jian sword I posted there is the flying dragon facing the Jian bird.
i find that cute as the dragon could be seen to represent a dinosaur, and we are even learning dinosaurs have feathers, infact dinosaurs turned into birds, the rooster/chicken is infact the closest related animal to the Trex. Roosters lost theyre fangs and claws and gained a spur, humans made our own spurs(blade weapons), we defeated the dragons and beasts in nature and now we rule the world. when at one point Trex was on top.

I found an Italian sword I have a photo of, I will post when possible, it is for sale... it has an eagle heraldic, the tail and the wings are very similar to the jian.

This has become an interesting look into the kinds of symbolism which influences the elements and decoration of various ethnographic edged weapons. While not necessarily directly connected, and many similarities are of course convergently created, one can only wonder how far influences can diffuse through the complex networks of trade.

In going through various references it is interesting to see how ancient weapon designs can occur atavistically, and to see the for example certain African weapons which are remarkably like some seen in ancient Egypt.

It seems that many of the tribal sword and edged weapon forms which are designed for certain traditional, official and ceremonial purposes often are decorated in artistic renditions of proverbs and other tribal references.
This character is found in many of these from the West African countries and into the Congo regions.

In accord with the design of this sword in the original post, I found this example captioned as a 'byongi parade sword' of the Ekonda people of the Congo. Naturally the teerm 'parade' is a western perception of a weapon used ceremonially in processions or events.

Note that the symmetrical features in this case are in the blade itself, while in the example featured in the orig post it comprises the hilt design.

The interesting look into the symbolism of various birds, chickens etc. as used in other cultural weaponry motif, compare well to the similarity of such zoomorphic representation with the 'hen' simile in West African adinkra symbols....and compellingly like the upward extensions on this hilt.

I would note here that animal horns may be possibly intended on those, and that with the Asante people in Ghana, the sword bearer wears a helmet with horns. I believe that rams horns are intended in this case, pertaining to a proverb concerning a ram. Perhaps the same convention might apply with this hilt to some such proverb ?

Atavistic designs in edged weapons is well known in many cultures who called on iconographic depictions to bring their hereditary weapons into their present and traditions.

The reference to the mummies would be the Caucasian remains found surprisingly in Chinese Turkestan in Urumchi in the 1980s. Their exact origin is unclear but it was certainly far west into the 'Celtic' sphere. A lot of complex and highly debated anthropology there, but the key question with the 'Urumchi' mummies was what in the world were these Caucasians doing that far east several thousand years ago?

Aren’t we overthinking it a bit?

Sub-Saharan African weapons by and large sacrificed their functionality in favor of “ whimsicality”. I can recall very few examples of truly functional serious weapons coming from that area. Zulu Iklwa, swords of Congolese Shi, Masai Seme and some fighting examples of Benin Hwi come to mind. Sure, one could inflict some damage with any fancily formed piece of metal, but when push came to shove, British machete was the preferred choice. Somehow because of that I have never gotten into African weapons.

Even Indians, with their inexhaustible pantheons of gods, their avatars and vahanas were serious about their weapons as weapons first and foremost.

As Tuco used to say, ” If you want to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk”

Point well noted, but actually not necessarily 'over' thinking, as we have been focused on the symbolism of the sword in the opening post of the thread, and possible similarities with other examples.

Naturally there were many distinct fighting forms throughout the African continent, including the almost fancifully styled 'throwing knives', whose actual use in battle of has always been subject for debate. The use of these among others in other manner, such as currency is fascinating. When factoring in the many colonial additions of swords and machetes to the arsenal, it becomes dramatically obvious that the sword was a well recognized weapon for battle throughout the tribal cultures of Africa.

Good analogy on the weapons of India, as the metaphysical properties inherently imbued in them are profoundly regarded, and the many forms actually used are powerfully effective in warfare. Still, highly embellished versions used ceremonially or ritually become notably impaired in combat encumbered by decorative elements.

Thus, in effect we are discussing a rather unique realm in the huge scope of edged weapons in Africa,in this case those intended as symbolic icons or votive elements in ceremony and ritual, rather than those intended for actual combat.

Well used and dramatic tag line from the movie "Desperado" :)

Sorry Jim..
This is from “The good, the bad and the ugly”.
Tuco ( “The ugly”) was taking a bath when his sworn enemy barged in and started loudly telling Tuco why he would be killed in a moment. Tucco pulls his hand with a gun from soapy and dirty water and shoots the attacker. Then, the immortal piece of wisdom.

Love this movie......

Ahah!!! I was thinking of Buco, in Desperado, a Tarentino western as opposed to Eastwood :) GBU is a classic!!! This kinda stuff is sorta 'Gospel' here in Texas !

I have settled upon a suitable name for this sword.
The Black Hen
I also picked up a Jian recently that has a dragon on the blade,
I think ill call it red dragon.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ara+blade+mark

the above kaskara shared on the forum was discussed concerning its symbol, maybe its a coincidence , I think it looks similar to the akokonan.

Hi Joe,
Actually that particular marking on the kaskara would be considered mostly not connected to the discussion on the interesting sword you posted in the OP.
While it reflects a degree of the artistic 'style' , the key element, as in much of the art in African material culture is the symmetry.

It is of course, not terribly surprising to not have an exact match in the references and compendiums of African arts as most of this is localized and often individually designed. Bringing together such preferences and notable influences in art will bring remarkable, and 'coincidental' comparisons.

In discussions with a prominent professor of anthropology whose primary field is in African cultures and religions, he suggested this item may be of the Ekonda people, who are a sub group of the Bantu Mongo people. These tribes are situated in the equitorial forests of the Congo in Central Africa, with large concentrations in Bandundu province (western Congo).

While this naturally this cannot be presumed as conclusive, it is based mostly on the symmetry found in some of their material culture with some similarity.

Thanks Jim, for the Good info I will research the peoples you suggest, it does sound like some of the possible locations of origin I briefly looked at while researching the symbol. I agree the similarity between my sword and the blade marking is very likely a coincidence. I just figured since I found the symbol on my sword, I may find the symbol on another, maybe not a kaskara...
I jump around between researching many things, maybe I hope eventually to come across some info concerning the akokonan symbol prior to it being used in Adinkra.