Ethnographic Arms & Armour
 

Go Back   Ethnographic Arms & Armour > Discussion Forums > Ethnographic Weapons

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 17th January 2017, 06:13 AM   #1
apolaki
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 160
Default Is this sword from Benin or Dahomey?

Can anyone tell me what type of sword this is? Also, how do you tell the difference between Benin ada swords and Dahomey hwi?

Thanks,

Apolaki
Attached Images
   
apolaki is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17th January 2017, 07:41 AM   #2
ariel
Member
 
ariel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 5,503
Default

Yup: Hwl.
What is it made of? Bronze?

Benin was famous for its bronze casting. And Benin and Dahomey is the same thing: it just changed the name

Last edited by ariel; 17th January 2017 at 12:05 PM.
ariel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17th January 2017, 04:42 PM   #3
apolaki
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 160
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ariel
Yup: Hwl.
What is it made of? Bronze?

Benin was famous for its bronze casting. And Benin and Dahomey is the same thing: it just changed the name
Thanks for your response. According to Wikipedia, these two kingdoms are different:

"The Benin Empire was a pre-colonial empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Empire
apolaki is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20th January 2017, 02:43 AM   #4
Jim McDougall
Arms Historian
 
Jim McDougall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,719
Default

Just elaborating on what Ariel has already noted.

This weapon appears to be a ceremonial 'hwi' from Dahomean regions, which were in the coastal areas of West Africa. These are best described in "African Arms & Armour" by Christopher Spring, using material from "Sabres Decores du Dahomey" (Palau Marti, 'Objets et Mondes' VII:4, 1967).
These are, like the 'ada', ceremonial and bearing type swords.

It seems that these areas using the hwi are typically regarded as Dahomean as suggested by the reference mentioned. This kingdom as visited by Burton was referred to as Dahomey. The kingdom of Benin was indeed inland and primarily in Nigeria.

While likely having certain similarities, I think this would be most probably be considered a Dahomean 'hwi'. These swords have a considerable spectrum of variation heavy with symbolic motif. Note the crosses, which may allude to earlier influences from Portuguese swords and seen on early African versions of European swords with such openwork crosses on the quillon terminals.
Jim McDougall is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:19 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Posts are regarded as being copyrighted by their authors and the act of posting material is deemed to be a granting of an irrevocable nonexclusive license for display here.