Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Omani Kattara/Sayf help with proper dating.

Dmitry · 19th June 2013, 04:08 PM

Forgive my ignorance, and not being familiar with the Omani slave trade. If I am not mistaken the majority of slaves in the Americas were from Western Africa. while Zanzibar is obviously on the Indian Ocean coast, so I don't think the West African slaves would make it all the way across the continent, while there were supplies of local slaves available. Or the slave traders procured slaves from the Western Africa and marched them for 1500 miles to the Eastern Coast?

Edit- just read this concise view of the Omani Sultanate.
http://histclo.com/country/me/oman/hist/oh-slave.html
Now I know more about the slavery on the East Coast of Africa, and the dominance of the Omani Sultanate along the Coast.
Still, to see the Omani and Manding weapons that are so similar [even though they are quite different], is something I didn't expect. Judging by the shape of the hilt without any kind of hand protection, long enough to easily grasp with both hands, and the long meaty blade, makes me think that it would serve best for a type of a beheading implement.

19th June 2013, 04:08 PM	#5
Dmitry Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 607	Forgive my ignorance, and not being familiar with the Omani slave trade. If I am not mistaken the majority of slaves in the Americas were from Western Africa. while Zanzibar is obviously on the Indian Ocean coast, so I don't think the West African slaves would make it all the way across the continent, while there were supplies of local slaves available. Or the slave traders procured slaves from the Western Africa and marched them for 1500 miles to the Eastern Coast? Edit- just read this concise view of the Omani Sultanate. http://histclo.com/country/me/oman/hist/oh-slave.html Now I know more about the slavery on the East Coast of Africa, and the dominance of the Omani Sultanate along the Coast. Still, to see the Omani and Manding weapons that are so similar [even though they are quite different], is something I didn't expect. Judging by the shape of the hilt without any kind of hand protection, long enough to easily grasp with both hands, and the long meaty blade, makes me think that it would serve best for a type of a beheading implement. Last edited by Dmitry; 19th June 2013 at 05:16 PM.