Modern Sudanese 'Arm Daggers'

Rumpel · 22nd July 2012, 03:20 AM

Thanks chaps...

Dom: that was utterly fascinating, and I strongly suspect you're right. Unfortunately, the smiths seemed genuinely quite irritated by me asking the meaning of the marks, and my 'minder,' a product of American missionary education, was quite keen to dismiss any evidence of pre-monotheistic belief... until it became too undeniable.

Tim, I've fallen in love with that axe... do you know whereabouts it's from, and when exactly? Mahdist or later? Increasingly, I think all of Sudan is a single culture area, weapon-wise, but I don't know for how long that"s been the case.

The semi-hunter-gathering Maban tribe, who splurge across the border, make some beautiful spears, but I don't have photos... but if anyone can point me to an interesting resource on Sudanese weapons, I'd be awfully grateful.

One interesting thing, as a long-time admirer of Sudanese weapons (BM: Durham University Collection; Pitt Rivers), was the wooden analogues to the fearsome, almost fantasy-like steel weapons seen in 19th c collections.

The wooden versions, at least, are called sarfraq or safrag, depending on thickness of dialect. Most peasants carried them; one colonel did, from a minority Muslim tribe, an old polished one, hanging from his shoulder. They use them as sort of boomerangs, to kill the plentiful Guinea fowl- or as threats in drunken arguments.

I'd be very surprised if the metal versions didn't descend from the God-knows-how-old wooden versions, at least considering Sudan's very ancient, Egyptian-influenced Neolithic culture.

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22nd July 2012, 03:20 AM	#13
Rumpel Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 63	Thanks chaps... Dom: that was utterly fascinating, and I strongly suspect you're right. Unfortunately, the smiths seemed genuinely quite irritated by me asking the meaning of the marks, and my 'minder,' a product of American missionary education, was quite keen to dismiss any evidence of pre-monotheistic belief... until it became too undeniable. Tim, I've fallen in love with that axe... do you know whereabouts it's from, and when exactly? Mahdist or later? Increasingly, I think all of Sudan is a single culture area, weapon-wise, but I don't know for how long that"s been the case. The semi-hunter-gathering Maban tribe, who splurge across the border, make some beautiful spears, but I don't have photos... but if anyone can point me to an interesting resource on Sudanese weapons, I'd be awfully grateful. One interesting thing, as a long-time admirer of Sudanese weapons (BM: Durham University Collection; Pitt Rivers), was the wooden analogues to the fearsome, almost fantasy-like steel weapons seen in 19th c collections. The wooden versions, at least, are called sarfraq or safrag, depending on thickness of dialect. Most peasants carried them; one colonel did, from a minority Muslim tribe, an old polished one, hanging from his shoulder. They use them as sort of boomerangs, to kill the plentiful Guinea fowl- or as threats in drunken arguments. I'd be very surprised if the metal versions didn't descend from the God-knows-how-old wooden versions, at least considering Sudan's very ancient, Egyptian-influenced Neolithic culture.