Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Rumpel
While I don't dispute the NW African/Tuareg attribution, I agree with Ibrahiim on the similarity to Gurade hilts, and in turn, to Sudanese arm daggers. In Blue Nile, historically a 'borderlands' transitional zone between Sudanic and Ethiopian cultural areas ( see https://www.isca.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/...13/1-James.pdf eg), arm dagger-style hilts are still occasionally seen on straight-bladed short or medium-length swords, giving a visual effect similar to a straightened gurade and very much like the sword in question.
Coincidence, I'm sure, but interesting.
The leatherwork on the hilt also gives it a vaguely Sudanic/Sahelian aspect, but not quite like anything I've seen before. |
Yes good point and the likelihood of design influence across a broad band of countries is seen...Here is a trade map or two...European trade blades were awash in North Africa and access to Red Sea routes also opened the floodgates of weaponry into that region by sea ..There are other power houses at work such as the entry into the Indian Ocean by the Portuguese French and English and the big hub generators of trade like Zanzibar, Comores, Islands India and the big slave land and sea routes therein. The massive East India companies pumped into the region were the EIC and the Dutch both equally powerful outfits and then on top of that the pilgrimage routes all making for brisk trade around the regions.
On links between Ethiopia and the Tuareg around the Niger region please see
https://addisabram.wordpress.com/201...r-to-timbuktu/
QUOTE" Tuaregs are probably distant relatives of Ethiopians, Egyptians and Moroccans. Maybe Christianity had a certain influence on them: Tuareg blacksmiths sculpt beautiful Crossess. The crosses, worn as pendants were originally worn by men and passed from father to son. Most of the cross designs are named after oasis towns. The Ethiopian influence in them is obvious.
The Tuareg belong to the large Berber community, which stretches from the Canary Islands to Egypt and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Niger River. They are the only Berber speaking community to have preserved and used the Tifinagh writing. Nomads of vast arid lands, the common denominator of the dispersed Tuareg is the language, Tamasheq. Consequently, they identify themselves as Kel Tamasheq (people of Tamasheq). The Tuareg who had originally lived in the northern tier of Africa but were later chased southwards by successive Arab invasions".UNQUOTE.