Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Kaskara in Silver Dress: an essay for comment and discussion by Ed Hunley

Edster · 15th April 2019, 02:01 PM

Stephen,

I accessed an English version of the Princeton piece, p.204 f. Thanks.

Jim,

Thanks for your astute comments. I'd like to use your comments and reference to the pebbles in my Silver Dress update in process.

I think the apparent budah square on the Stars & Comets is actually a Dotted Square. It is the focal point of the cover. The dotted square is a ancient talismanic form described by L. D. Graham in his Repeat Letter Ciphers paper, p.e10, linked below.

https://www.academia.edu/1999297/In_...h_the_Pleiades

I have a note in my 1984 Kassala field notes that has a "cow's head" mark much like the one on your sword. It was attributed to a smith named Sammani who made the sword seen at the time of Ansari, the first Sudanese president (c. 1956). Sammani died c. 1979.

More from notes: The shaykh of the Blacksmiths, Musa Malit, said that in 1918 no one makes swords. They came from Europe & Ethiopia made by companies. People in the country only carried knives & spears. People bought swords from soldiers in Mussawa (these would have been Italians I think), Egypt & Turks. They traded their spears for swords after the Mahdiya.

On the walls were pictures of the Mahdi, Gordon, Sadiq al Mahdi (the Mahdi's son), Othman Digna and the Khalifa. This was in 1984, 100 years after the Mahdiya and the reconquest. History lasts a long time there. What did Faulkner say? "The past is never dead. It's not even past."

Regards,
Ed

15th April 2019, 02:01 PM	#43
Edster Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 391	Stephen, I accessed an English version of the Princeton piece, p.204 f. Thanks. Jim, Thanks for your astute comments. I'd like to use your comments and reference to the pebbles in my Silver Dress update in process. I think the apparent budah square on the Stars & Comets is actually a Dotted Square. It is the focal point of the cover. The dotted square is a ancient talismanic form described by L. D. Graham in his Repeat Letter Ciphers paper, p.e10, linked below. https://www.academia.edu/1999297/In_...h_the_Pleiades I have a note in my 1984 Kassala field notes that has a "cow's head" mark much like the one on your sword. It was attributed to a smith named Sammani who made the sword seen at the time of Ansari, the first Sudanese president (c. 1956). Sammani died c. 1979. More from notes: The shaykh of the Blacksmiths, Musa Malit, said that in 1918 no one makes swords. They came from Europe & Ethiopia made by companies. People in the country only carried knives & spears. People bought swords from soldiers in Mussawa (these would have been Italians I think), Egypt & Turks. They traded their spears for swords after the Mahdiya. On the walls were pictures of the Mahdi, Gordon, Sadiq al Mahdi (the Mahdi's son), Othman Digna and the Khalifa. This was in 1984, 100 years after the Mahdiya and the reconquest. History lasts a long time there. What did Faulkner say? "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Regards, Ed Last edited by Edster; 15th April 2019 at 02:41 PM.