Semarang, the parang from Halmahera

[Sajen]

Thank you for posting this picture Maurice. There are indeed some affinities with my shield.

Best regards,

Detlef

[Battara]

Very helpful Maurice, thank you.

[Gustav]

I just have found a picture with these shields in "Woodbury & Page. Photographers Java". The text says:

"Militia, trumpeters and flute orchestra of the Sultan of Ternate. The uniforms these men are wearing are early ninetheenth-century European models, except for the men at right. They wear European-style cuirasses and helmets of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. However, their shields are typical of the Moluccas. These men were called ALBAHDIR, which is derived from the Portuguese and Dutch equivalents of the word halberdier."

Picture taken after 1880.

[Maurice]

Thanks Gustav for posting this interesting image with the same shields as discussed before!

As we look around it's amazing how we're able to find old images of people with old artifacts we never have seen before because they're that rare!

Rg,
Maurice

[Sajen]

Have recently taken new pictures from my semarangs and I also have taken out from my attic another semarang with a very rusted blade and cleaned it, it was never shown before, enjoy!

[Sajen]

And here the never before shown sword.

The upper sword in the group pic is the oldest, 2. quarter to mid. 20th century the other both will be from the fifties to seventies last century. They were used in the cakalele dance, as wedding gifts but also in the riots between Muslims and Christians around 2000. I know this from tales which were told to me in 2002 during my first visit to Halmahera. The added red cloth is a sign that the owner is Christian.