Mystery Inscription on Controversial Sword

Jim McDougall · 9th June 2014, 04:31 AM

As far as I have understood, as indicated in post #6 with the references attributed to Charles Buttin, I would regard this to be a Moroccan sboula. As discussed over the years, the Burton reference has classified this as a 'Zanzibar' sword along with the familiar Omani kattara with cylindrical hilt. However the Buttin reference is most reliable and he cites Burton's error in perpetuating the Demmin (1877) reference .
The reason these ended up with Ethiopian association is that an apparent number of these were among weapons shown in the pamphlet "Weapons of Africa" as well as there are examples with Amharic 'geez' script. These are most likely to have arrived there via trade networks.

As always, there is probably no 'agreement' on proper term or attribution but this is my perception over the past 10 or 12 years.

CharlesS · 9th June 2014, 11:44 AM

Jim,

Thanks for the input. I was just trying to get some sense of whether to go with "jiboula" or "sboula" in a catalog I am working on. If Buttin is calling it "sboula" I will go with that.

I had that reference work, but it never crossed my mind to look there!

Thanks again.

blue lander · 9th June 2014, 04:28 PM

What about the Shula dagger/sword? Is this another spelling for sboula/jiboula or something else entirely? They look completely different but I believe they're from Morocco as well.

werecow · 17th May 2023, 01:33 PM

This may be a stretch, but I was browsing through the alphabet site a bit and it looks like the inscription has some features of Loma (Liberia):

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/lomasyllabary.htm

Interested Party · 17th May 2023, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by werecow

This may be a stretch, but I was browsing through the alphabet site a bit and it looks like the inscription has some features of Loma (Liberia):

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/lomasyllabary.htm

Wow!!! So close! How did you stumble across this writing system? I tried to transliterate this inscription both as posted and inverted. Neither quite worked but it was close. That is a complicated syllabary.

It could just be pretty lines for spiritual power? A nonsense Latinesque inscription to add value? An older/newer version of Loma, or related language? The mystery continues...

werecow · 17th May 2023, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Interested Party

Wow!!! So close! How did you stumble across this writing system? I tried to transliterate this inscription both as posted and inverted. Neither quite worked but it was close. That is a complicated syllabary.

I'd like to claim some research superpowers but I literally just browsed through about a dozen or so of the African alphabets on the site.

TVV · 17th May 2023, 11:21 PM

Loma script on blades mounted in Morocco sounds fascinating, but unfortunately also totally improbable. The sboula that started the thread is probably from the end of the 19th century or early 20th century, predating the Loma script. Even if you somehow can get past that, why would anyone in Morocco inscribe a blade in some obscure Trans Saharan language and not Arabic?

I still feel that an illiterate smith/engraver putting something that visually imitates older European marks is the most plausible explanation. The vast majority of Sboulas (and Genouis) are from cut down European blades, and any local production apparently needed to at least look like the imports in order to be marketable.

9th June 2014, 04:31 AM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,281	As far as I have understood, as indicated in post #6 with the references attributed to Charles Buttin, I would regard this to be a Moroccan sboula. As discussed over the years, the Burton reference has classified this as a 'Zanzibar' sword along with the familiar Omani kattara with cylindrical hilt. However the Buttin reference is most reliable and he cites Burton's error in perpetuating the Demmin (1877) reference . The reason these ended up with Ethiopian association is that an apparent number of these were among weapons shown in the pamphlet "Weapons of Africa" as well as there are examples with Amharic 'geez' script. These are most likely to have arrived there via trade networks. As always, there is probably no 'agreement' on proper term or attribution but this is my perception over the past 10 or 12 years.

9th June 2014, 11:44 AM	#2
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,854	Jim, Thanks for the input. I was just trying to get some sense of whether to go with "jiboula" or "sboula" in a catalog I am working on. If Buttin is calling it "sboula" I will go with that. I had that reference work, but it never crossed my mind to look there! Thanks again.

9th June 2014, 04:28 PM	#3
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	What about the Shula dagger/sword? Is this another spelling for sboula/jiboula or something else entirely? They look completely different but I believe they're from Morocco as well.

17th May 2023, 01:33 PM	#4
werecow Member Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Leiden, NL Posts: 567	This may be a stretch, but I was browsing through the alphabet site a bit and it looks like the inscription has some features of Loma (Liberia): https://www.omniglot.com/writing/lomasyllabary.htm

17th May 2023, 11:21 PM	#7
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,664	Loma script on blades mounted in Morocco sounds fascinating, but unfortunately also totally improbable. The sboula that started the thread is probably from the end of the 19th century or early 20th century, predating the Loma script. Even if you somehow can get past that, why would anyone in Morocco inscribe a blade in some obscure Trans Saharan language and not Arabic? I still feel that an illiterate smith/engraver putting something that visually imitates older European marks is the most plausible explanation. The vast majority of Sboulas (and Genouis) are from cut down European blades, and any local production apparently needed to at least look like the imports in order to be marketable.