Maasai Seme

[RomaRana]

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

Hi Willem

That is an older Massai war sword they have longer blades. Here are two from my collection. Btw your shield looks be from the Turkana tribe.

Lew

Louie I believe one of your swords is actually Watuta. I have been involved in a serious study of this east African sword type for about two years now.

I uncovered several prints from the 1800's illustrating several seemingly similar sword types that most would identify as a "seme." But in fact range in a wide geo-cultural area.

The one on the lower left has rings built into which is a characteristic of the watuta tribe, a branch of the Nagoni. I would also need to see it sheathed to confirm this. Watuta swords frequently (not always) exhibit a neck protrusion of 1-2 inches that are not covered by the sheath. Furthermore, sheath color confirms this fact.

East african swords need to be analyzed in terms of forging techniques such as tip shape, cross section (a very complicated subject), hilt style, sheath style, sheath color, sheath and belt motif.

These swords were made and used among too many tribal groups to list.

some are:
Maasai- Each maasai group has a different style of sword. There are at least 15 Maasai groups. Some Maasai groups actually work in blacksmithing after they were forced to adopt agriculture after the 2nd and 3rd Iloikop wars and the rinderpest epidemic of the 1890's.

Kikuyu
Chagga
Luo
Watuta
Ngoni
Sambaru