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Old 1st September 2017, 08:56 PM   #22
Ibrahiim al Balooshi
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE
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I noted an extraordinary sword example from this region with a standard hilt but zoo omorhic and geometric blade including a Cross already dealt with. The snake is particularly interesting.

Wikepedia notes Quote" In Africa the chief centre of serpent worship was Dahomey, but the cult of the python seems to have been of exotic origin, dating back to the first quarter of the 17th century. By the conquest of Whydah the Dahomeyans were brought in contact with a people of serpent worshippers, and ended by adopting from them the beliefs which they at first despised.

At Whydah, the chief centre, there is a serpent temple, tenanted by some fifty snakes. Every python of the danh-gbi kind must be treated with respect, and death is the penalty for killing one, even by accident. Danh-gbi has numerous wives, who until 1857 took part in a public procession from which the profane crowd was excluded; a python was carried round the town in a hammock, perhaps as a ceremony for the expulsion of evils.

The rainbow-god of the Ashanti was also conceived to have the form of a snake. His messenger was said to be a small variety of boa, but only certain individuals, not the whole species, were sacred.

In many parts of Africa the serpent is looked upon as the incarnation of deceased relatives. Among the Amazulu, as among the Betsileo of Madagascar, certain species are assigned as the abode of certain classes. The Maasai, on the other hand, regard each species as the habitat of a particular family of the tribe."Unquote.

Tortoise Note the Tortoise between the hilt and the snake. See http://www.allfolktales.com/folktales.php for some of the important West African Myths and stories concerning the Tortoise which was revered as being the cleverest animal and a legendary force ..
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Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 2nd September 2017 at 06:24 PM.
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