Two African knives

[Ian]

I recently purchased a Moro spear head which was part of a lot. It came with two African knives shown here.

The first is a nice old double-edged dagger with silver mounts on the hilt, a disc pommel and a full length tang peined over the end of the hilt. The blade is double-edged and has an Arabic inscription on one side. OAL 9.75 in. Blade 6 in. Hilt 3.75 in.







The second is another double-edged knife in a wooden scabbard bound with segments of wound copper wire. The flattened elliptical wooden hilt has similar wire wrapped bands. The blade on this one is very interesting and is constructed in a way I have not seen before. Think of a blade with a flattened diamond cross-section coming to an acute point. To one side of the longitudinal midline ridge the blade has been hollowed out such that it is concave from the middle to the edge. This is repeated on the other side such that each concave half is backed by a flat half on the other side. In this way, a double-edged knife has been created fairly easily. OAL in scabbard 16.5 in. OAL out of scabbard 16.3 in. Blade 10.5 in. Hilt 5.8 in.






I'm looking for help in placing the origin of these two knives.