Beja Shield

shayde78 · 23rd February 2021, 05:51 PM

Thanks for the picture, Kabur.
To me, the idea of a rest/guide for the spear makes a LOT of sense. I don't know anything about the fighting styles of the Beja, but if they fought in any kind of formation, such a shield design would allow a thrust to be delivered with the spear without disrupting a shield wall. This can be done without such a cutout, but this divot in the shield would allow greater control and precision in the thrust. This is the same reason a thrust using two hands would let the leading hand serve as a guide, while the thrust was delivered by the trailing hand. The problem with this two handed thrust is that it would expose the body as any shield would be moved to the side (or the soldier wouldn't even have the shield as it would serve as more of an encumbrance). Look through some of the European pikeman drilling manuals of the 1600-1700s (I forget the dates, actually) and you'll see what I mean. If this is indeed the purpose of these cutouts, the Beja have a rather elegant solution to this problem. Makes a lot of sense if you aren't wearing an iron breastplate like the European pikemen would have had.

Norman McCormick · 24th February 2021, 04:09 PM

Hi,
The photograph posted by Kubur does give some credence to the spear rest theory and I can understand the formation shield wall theory, seems plausible. The improvement of vision I'm not so sure about, I did try it but somehow it didn't feel right, the cutouts were in the wrong place when holding the shield with the grip in the vertical which was the position that seemed most natural.
Regards,
Norman.

colin henshaw · 25th February 2021, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

Hi,
The photograph posted by Kubur does give some credence to the spear rest theory and I can understand the formation shield wall theory, seems plausible. The improvement of vision I'm not so sure about, I did try it but somehow it didn't feel right, the cutouts were in the wrong place when holding the shield with the grip in the vertical which was the position that seemed most natural.
Regards,
Norman.

Here is a relevant extract from a book I have to hand ... "Man & his Handiwork" by the Rev. J G Wood 1886, that describes these shields and mentioning the visual aid aspect. The shield shown by Wood has large shallow cutouts, but another common form has much smaller, almost enclosed cutouts that clearly could not act as spear rests. Some images of this type from the internet are attached.

A possibility could be that two types of shields were produced by Beja tribes ... one for spearmen with large shallow cutouts and another for swordsmen with the small "spyhole" type ?

I think there are references elsewhere to these Beja shields and their usage, if I can find any I shall post them.

Norman McCormick · 26th February 2021, 03:36 PM

Hi Colin,
I see where you're coming from now. I notice the shield illustrated by the Rev Wood has an elliptical shape as against the more general circular shape. I wonder if there is any evolution from one shaped cutout to another as I suppose one could argue that the cutouts on mine and others of course could act either as a visual aid or a spear rest. Thanks for the continued info.
My Regards,
Norman.

P.S. Some more images of Beja shields.

26th February 2021, 03:36 PM	#4
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,618	Hi Colin, I see where you're coming from now. I notice the shield illustrated by the Rev Wood has an elliptical shape as against the more general circular shape. I wonder if there is any evolution from one shaped cutout to another as I suppose one could argue that the cutouts on mine and others of course could act either as a visual aid or a spear rest. Thanks for the continued info. My Regards, Norman. P.S. Some more images of Beja shields. Attached Images

23rd February 2021, 05:51 PM	#1
shayde78 Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 445	Thanks for the picture, Kabur. To me, the idea of a rest/guide for the spear makes a LOT of sense. I don't know anything about the fighting styles of the Beja, but if they fought in any kind of formation, such a shield design would allow a thrust to be delivered with the spear without disrupting a shield wall. This can be done without such a cutout, but this divot in the shield would allow greater control and precision in the thrust. This is the same reason a thrust using two hands would let the leading hand serve as a guide, while the thrust was delivered by the trailing hand. The problem with this two handed thrust is that it would expose the body as any shield would be moved to the side (or the soldier wouldn't even have the shield as it would serve as more of an encumbrance). Look through some of the European pikeman drilling manuals of the 1600-1700s (I forget the dates, actually) and you'll see what I mean. If this is indeed the purpose of these cutouts, the Beja have a rather elegant solution to this problem. Makes a lot of sense if you aren't wearing an iron breastplate like the European pikemen would have had.

24th February 2021, 04:09 PM	#2
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,618	Hi, The photograph posted by Kubur does give some credence to the spear rest theory and I can understand the formation shield wall theory, seems plausible. The improvement of vision I'm not so sure about, I did try it but somehow it didn't feel right, the cutouts were in the wrong place when holding the shield with the grip in the vertical which was the position that seemed most natural. Regards, Norman.