touarg telek

[Marc M.]

Greetings

Two touareg teleks almost identican in size and shape.Scabard and dagger in good condition. Handle in wood, brass and aluminium. Blades are quite soft and loca lmade Edges are dull, only 5 cm from the tip is somewhat sharp.
Read some older posts on the forumthat this form of armdagger comes from the region Niger-Agadez.
No idea of age, i guess mid 20est century. Comments are welcome.

Best regards
Marc

[Marc M.]

Latest telek tuareg arm dagger, oal 46.5 cm, dagger 46 cm, length blade 43 cm, width at handle 3.8 cm and thickness blade to handle 4.5 mm. Blade with a diamond cross-section, solid quality blade with 3 small grooves with a circle/sun motif at the end. Wooden handle in the shape of a Latin cross decorated with brass wire and plate. The scabbard is leather with a wide leather strap to carry the weapon on the arm. The front is perforated and shows green leather. An old quality arm dagger that you don't come across very often.
It helps if you read something carefully, just found that according to Gast, M, 1959 that telek or telak is a common name for dagger and includes the azegiz, a rare long arm dagger from the Ahaggar region. Probably this type of arm dagger.
Regards
Marc

[Tim Simmons]

Thought I would add this one from further south. There was a time some 20 or more years ago these were rather looked down on. I bet that has changed now. Not the prettiest of blades but quality tough flexible blade with a nice ring as you pull it out of the scabbard.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Marc M.

Latest telek tuareg arm dagger, oal 46.5 cm, dagger 46 cm, length blade 43 cm, width at handle 3.8 cm and thickness blade to handle 4.5 mm. Blade with a diamond cross-section, solid quality blade with 3 small grooves with a circle/sun motif at the end. Wooden handle in the shape of a Latin cross decorated with brass wire and plate. The scabbard is leather with a wide leather strap to carry the weapon on the arm. The front is perforated and shows green leather. An old quality arm dagger that you don't come across very often.
It helps if you read something carefully, just found that according to Gast, M, 1959 that telek or telak is a common name for dagger and includes the azegiz, a rare long arm dagger from the Ahaggar region. Probably this type of arm dagger.
Regards
Marc

Hi Marc,

This one is a real beauty! Very nice blade.

Regards,
Detlef

[TVV]

Marc, your new telek is quite possibly the nicest I have seen of this type, congratulations! Based on examples in the Quai Branly and Bastide's books, this type is attributed to the Hoggar mountains, which is consistent with your sources.

[Marc M.]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Thought I would add this one from further south. There was a time some 20 or more years ago these were rather looked down on. I bet that has changed now. Not the prettiest of blades but quality tough flexible blade with a nice ring as you pull it out of the scabbard.

Hi Tim
Similar specimens, Bida, on africanarms.com site, site back on the net. Never come across one before, rarer than the telek. Nice.
Regards
Marc

[Marc M.]

Beda.

[Marc M.]

Detlef and Teodor, thank you for your response. I searched for years to find this quality and shape, so reasonably satisfied.
Regards
Marc

[Marc M.]

I could not resist getting a second copy of this type of telek. A good steel blade although the execution of the fullers is not so great. No sheath.

Regards
Marc