Benin Daggers

Iain · 30th March 2012, 01:01 AM

I stumbled across some daggers from the kingdom of Benin today on http://www.penn.museum/collections/ and thought I'd start a thread on them. Several features of these caught my eye in comparison to arm daggers from the Sahel.

One has an almost Hausa style pommel, others 'skull crusher' pommels reminiscent of Tebu daggers and another a 'T' shaped pommel a bit like a telek.

I wonder which direction the influences ran or if it's all just coincidence. Any members have their own examples of these? All the ones I've seen seem exceptionally well made and I really like the style.

30th March 2012, 01:01 AM	#1
Iain Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Olomouc Posts: 1,693	Benin Daggers I stumbled across some daggers from the kingdom of Benin today on http://www.penn.museum/collections/ and thought I'd start a thread on them. Several features of these caught my eye in comparison to arm daggers from the Sahel. One has an almost Hausa style pommel, others 'skull crusher' pommels reminiscent of Tebu daggers and another a 'T' shaped pommel a bit like a telek. I wonder which direction the influences ran or if it's all just coincidence. Any members have their own examples of these? All the ones I've seen seem exceptionally well made and I really like the style. Attached Images