South Arabian spears

[Jim McDougall]

The more I read this thread, the more intrigued I am by the topic of the original post, and the subject of Arab spears. I have to admit I have never really focused on these particular weapons, nor fully realized how important they were in Arabia. According to the traveler T. Burckhardt in the 1830s, '..the most common weapon of the Arabs were their lances' (Elgood, 1994, p.66). I had always had the impression the sword was the key weapon they used.

In the original post, Colin was asking about the term and possible origin with which to classify the two shafted weapons he has, which has revealed the obvious difficulty in accurately applying same to these to universal satisfaction.

It seems that while there are terms used which would denote a broad head (shalfa) or narrow head (harba), (Elgood, p.67) these descriptive terms are far from exclusively used in different regions and by various tribes etc. While some refer to the point/head as 'kentad' and the spike inserting it into the shaft as harbe, in Syria the point is termed the harbe.
Then it is noted (p.66) that the lance in North Arabia in the 19th c. is known as 'shalfa' or 'rumh'.

As might be expected, with the diversity of the tribes of the Bedouin over the considerable distances of the regions they occupy, there is apparently a notable disparity in the use of terms used for the shafted weapons in use.
This is of course complicated by their size (length) and how they are used (as javelin, spear or lance).

It does not seem that such terms documented on such weapons in one region would necessarily cover those used in local parlance of other tribes or inhabitants of other regions in the Arab world. Writers and travelers trying to document the names of these weapons were of course subject to the transliteration issues from information they were given.

Noting the seemingly often colloquial use of descriptive terms for the weapons, which were of utmost importance to the Arab, I was reading some of the colorful and fascinating terms used toward rifles for example.
It seems often the reference was directed toward the size or magazine capacity, as with the Winchester repeating rifle, 'the mother of 17'. The short British rifle was apparently often termed 'sharfa'. While this term was compellingly close to the term 'shalfa' (one form of lance) it is obviously not the same word, and from what I found meant loosely 'baby girl' probably referring to the smaller (carbine?) size.

The point is that it would seem there are not only many terms and names for these weapons which are often, if not typically, applied in varying degree of descriptive reference, some almost fanciful. In many cases even the type of wood (rattan etc.) might be applied to the name of the particular weapon.

This is all part of the exciting fascination of these weapons, among quite honestly, the entire culture of Arabia and the Arab world, and why our sincere study of these people is given such dimension and dynamics through their weaponry.

Naturally I welcome the insight of others toward the observations I have noted here from the resources I have cited, as learning is my objective.

Further, I am really fascinated by the talismanic properties described in the previous posts and look forward to developing more on them as well.

[kahnjar1]

Nice lot of pics on the thread now, but description of the shaft of ARABIAN spears states the shaft is (usually) bamboo. Many of those shown appear to to be of some other wood (not that it means they are not Arabian)....just an observation.
Stu

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Nice lot of pics on the thread now, but description of the shaft of ARABIAN spears states the shaft is (usually) bamboo. Many of those shown appear to to be of some other wood (not that it means they are not Arabian)....just an observation.
Stu

Good observation, and it does seem that virtually all these Arabian shafted weapons do seem to have used various types of bamboo, reed and cane in their shafts. Most of the entries I read in Elgood noted that these woods were used from early times and brought in from various places.

The shafts on some of these appear to be smooth and not ribbed like I always think of bamboo, but it seems botanically (NOT my area by far) there are male and female plants.

In the entries that comment on the scarcity of these lances, spears and javelins it does seem that one of the factors that may contribute to this is that the shafts have not survived. Possibly numbers of these heads and butt items have been rehafted with hard woods of other kinds. Elgood does note one type of javelin (mizrak) from the Hijaz with a shaft of 'hard, pliant wood' which was of unknown identity.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

If I can just add what I have about the Talisman effects but not to forget the trade in the region bringing bamboo and other timber across from India and Africa as well as locally grown bamboo etc
The lozenge shape is apparent in many metal objects and similar to the spear butt decoration . I illustrate a rather long winded phrase to describe this object as an Islamic Architectural Talisman Nail... used to ward off evil spirits from newly built houses by being hammered into the area above the main door. The lozenge even appears with similar dots which may in the 3 or 5 dot configuration...

I have a picture somewhere of another devil style decorative object of similar shape which I will add as this thread develops. I have some battle scenes where the spear plays an important role and will add later.

See Below ~ Islamic Architectural Talisman Nail...Next to project spear end.