Period Photos of People with Ethnographic Arms

[Martin Lubojacky]

Originally Posted by estcrh

Ottoman guards late 1800s to early 1900s, a type of honor or consular guard (kavas or cawas) in the middle east. The last image is of Joseph P. Khabbaz from around 1940, wearing the traditional uniform of chief cawas/kawas, standing under the US Consulate General emblem atop of the gate leading to the embassy where he has worked for 20 yrs.

Estcrh, thank you very much for this photos. If it´s not secret - isn´t it consulate general in Istanbul ?

And as Kubur said - you are amaizing - thanks for the link to that costumes book !

[Martin Lubojacky]

Photo with bigger shields:
Wakuasi warriors from Kavirondo, Western Kenya, probably end of 19th century

Photo with smaller shields:
Also warriors from Kavirondo, Western Kenya, 1910

I do not know, if both groups are Nilotic Kavirondo (that time also used name "Wakuasi"), or not (there are living Nilotic and Bantu Kavirondo in the same region). In any case, the change of the spearheads style and the change of the size of the shields is interesting. As far as the spearheads, I red somewhere, that the era of very long and narrow spearheads began when the export of steel rods to Africa started.

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

Photo with bigger shields:
Wakuasi warriors from Kavirondo, Western Kenya, probably end of 19th century

Photo with smaller shields:
Also warriors from Kavirondo, Western Kenya, 1910

I do not know, if both groups are Nilotic Kavirondo (that time also used name "Wakuasi"), or not (there are living Nilotic and Bantu Kavirondo in the same region). In any case, the change of the spearheads style and the change of the size of the shields is interesting. As far as the spearheads, I red somewhere, that the era of very long and narrow spearheads began when the export of steel rods to Africa started.

Martin, here is the Royal Geographical Society description for the first image. Those are some massive spears.

Six Wakwifi warriors taken at Mumia's Kavirondo, Artist / photographer: Ernest Gedge, Date: 1889. Country: Kenya.

[rickystl]

Thanks for the GREAT photos.
Rick.

[David]

I don't think i've seen this one appear on this thread yet.
These guys look fierce to me. I am especially enamored of that rather princely looking fellow in the center whom i assume might be their leader.
"Gewapende Gajo's"expeditie Veldtocht met overste Van Daalen naar de Bovenlanden van Aceh - 1904

[Rumpel]

Photos of Greek-identifying insurgent bands in late Ottoman Macedonia. As much of interest for the accountrements (cartridge boxes etc) as the qamas and bichaqs.

Equivalent pics of pro-Bulgarian and pro-Ottoman fighters show a less 'ethnographic' quality, with a greater emphasis on modern German firearms and equipment.

Original source in higher resolution here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C...das_Papazoglou

[Rumpel]

Low-res, but interesting, from the Pitt-Rivers (South) Sudan collections. I hope the formatting works...

1. An assemblage of Shilluk material culture displayed on a table and against a wall, including metal arm ornaments, pipes, shiled, spears, club, leopard skin with cowrie fringe and neck ornament. Richard Buchta, 1877 - 1879.

2. Lango men cutting and straightening spear shafts using a hole in a tree, one of a series of images relating to Lango spear-making. It is likely that this print is a still taken from the cine-film made by Powell-Cotton during a hunting expedition in the Imatong hills. Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton.
Date of Photo:
1933
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Eastern Equatoria Mt. Imatong Lomuleng

3. A large group of Shilluk men in a line brandishing hide shields and spears at a dance gathering. Charles Kingsley Meek
Date of Photo:
1928 circa
Region:
[Southern Sudan] ? Upper Nile

4. A man demonstrating the throwing of a curved throwing weapon with a bulbous end, on the lower slopes of the jebel, rising some 1,000 feet out of the Blue Nile plain, and with a circumference of some five miles. The Seligmans visited this location during their 1910 expedition. [nb we would now call the Gule part of the Funj tribe]

5,6,7. A group of Dinka youths at a funeral dance near Malakal, carrying numerous spears and ambatch parrying shields, and wearing numerous dance ornaments and accessories. Wilfred Patrick Thesiger
Date of Photo:
1939
Region:
[Southern Sudan] Upper Nile Malakal

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

Estcrh, thank you very much for this photos. If it´s not secret - isn´t it consulate general in Istanbul ?

And as Kubur said - you are amaizing - thanks for the link to that costumes book !

Martin, here is the information I have, the location is supposedly Beirut, lebanon.


Cities Of Beirut & Damascus
Joseph P. Khabbaz, clad in traditional uniform as chief cawas standing under US Consulate General emblem atop gate leading to the embassy where he has worked for 20 yrs.
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Date taken: 1938
Photographer: Margaret Bourke-White
Size: 1002 x 1280 pixels (13.9 x 17.8 inches)

[Martin Lubojacky]

Estcrh, Thank you