This is absolutely brilliant insight Peter! Thank you so much. As someone long fascinated with Saharan swords, I very much appreciate this added detail, especially the material from Lhote, who was an important writer on these weapons and Tuaregs.
I am curious on the 'moons', which long ago I found these referred to as 'dukari' (I think it was Rodd) and tried to find European parallels to these placed in pairs on the Tuareg blades. In Briggs they appear on 'Hausa' kaskara it appears.
These makers listed are important as sources for the European blades which must have inspired the native blade makers.
Tripoli was long one of the key points of entry for European blades which then entered the Trans Saharan trade routes, so easy to imagine the numbers of European blades which have likely passed through here for centuries.
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