Very old ? Zulu Assegai

[katana]

Hi,
just acquired a Zulu assegia, shaft is shortened either by damage in use or possibly a shortened 'bring back' ( Officers had the privilages of being able to take home larger pieces....lower ranks had to pack their souveniers with their own items, so often spears were shortened to take up less space).
The 'break' is very old either way.

The wire work is predominately iron ....with 'bands' of thicker brass wire-work between. The Zulu stabbing spear was held fairly close to the spearhead ...giving a 'working length' of approx. 24" (dependant on individual preference) The patina on the shaft clearly shows the constant handling at this point
Effectively the spear would be used as a thrusting short sword ...and perhaps explains the lack of swords in Zulu culture.

Judging by the patina and the use of iron wire I believe this is possibly early/mid 19th C .

Any comments or input would be gratefully recieved, thank you

Regards David

[Ron Anderson]

Hi David

I'm actually South African born. Though I don't think I'm on expert on Zulu weapons by any means, the conventional wisdom on the assegai was that it was an innovation by Shaka Zulu himself. Prior to that spears were things that used to get thrown. This was throughout Southern African.

So, I guess, it's not really an explanation of why there are no swords among the zulus as their were no assegais prior to the early 1800s. I first started collecting African swords that were flooding into Johannesurg from central Africa (most notably Zaire). These were the first African swords I had ever seen. Swords are simply not part of the armoury of most Southern Bantu speaking people, and that includes Zulu and the other numerous ethnic groups in that area.

I do not really know the reason for that. Perhaps it owes more to the existence of the knobkerrie, which really is ubiquitous in that part of the world. Interesting to note that swords seem to be absent among Polynesians (another group that opted for clubs for closer combat).

Just a thought.

Nice assegai. Those things are very hard to find. I would guess your estimation of the age on that is pretty accurate. I would guess its a Zulu War bringback?

Ron

I'd say your

[kronckew]

Shaka kaSenzangakhona basically re-invented the roman short sword in a spear format he was familiar with. the zulu king figured out that for disciplined professional soldiers with an organised and trained shield wall in close combat against a mob of undisciplined 'warriors' a short stabbing weapon was the best. roman writers discussed that a 3in deep stab to the body was normally sufficient. use your shield offensively to hook the opponents shield to his right, stab, push, trample & keep moving and stabbing. let the ranks behind finish off any wounded as they follow. throwing spears, like roman pilum, were used for shock just prior to the hand-to-hand collision.

he also discovered the cannae attack with his bull formation, engage the centre, then flank and surround. worked for hannibal, Shaka kaSenzangakhona, Cetshwayo kaMpande and stormin' norman shwartzkopf...

an example of parallel evolution

[Ron Anderson]

Effectively, the assegai was a 19th century phenomenon. Extremely formidable in its day, largely because no on other ethnic groups were using it. It was a technological advantage of note. But it wasn't used before the 19th century, and it's since become obsolete. The knobkerrie is still widely used and carried, as both a weapon and a mace/symbol of authority. However, by far the most common and effective traditional weapon in the region is the AK47.

[TimW]

I recently obtained a similar spear. I'll try to post some pictures - the shaft of my spear is complete and ends with a knob.

[katana]

Thank you for all your replies

Hi Ron ,
personally I still feel that the short stabbing spear negated the use of the sword in Zulu culture. According to several historical sources the Iklwa spear was used to stab and slash.
A number of Polynesian cultures did have a sword type weapon in their arsenal, Due to the unavailability of metal ore most older weapons were manufactured from wood, stone, shells and animal teeth/bone. Often sharpened shells, shark teeth, knapped rock (and similar) would be tied/bonded to flatten clubs to create a serrated cutting edge.

Hi Wayne
thanks for your input, Shaka's tactics were certainly 'Romanesque', and very effective too.

Hi Tim,
yes, please post some pictures


I have read that the Zulu had 20 named types of spear (Pitt Rivers Museum)

The Iklwa (Shaka's 'brainchild') is accepted as the name of the 'stabbing spear'....however the blade has a distinctive shape with a long tapering point ...said to be around 12" long, with a shaft of around 24". (interestingly these are often shown being held mid point of the shaft ....further evidence that around 24" used as it 'working length' ??? )

Many 'stabbing spears' with provenance to the Anglo-Zulu war period have the same blade as my own posted. The question is ....are all stabbing spears Iklwa or is there another name for those with differing blade shapes ???

Also strange is the fact that Shaka's portrait (this, apparently is the only one), shows him holding an 'ordinary' spear

"Only known drawing of King Shaka standing with the long throwing assegai and the heavy shield in 1824 - four years before his death"

Kind Regards David



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