I go with Tim on this....the blade with a latchback, stepped distal end and with very unusual rebated point resembles Dahomean weapons (often of the ceremonial form shown by Tim in last post) and often termed 'hwi' (as described in Palau Marti). The geometric motif resembles symbolism that seems familiar in West African material culture, along with seems to possibly represent a snake head ? The python was a key figure in the folk religions there.
There seems an almost undefined similarity in the highly stylized pommel to the mysterious and equally highly stylized pommel of the flyssa. This however does seem more like a birdhead, while that of the flyssa seems to be perhaps, as sometimes suggested, a camel. In any case, the diffusion of these themes between Saharan and West African cultures via trade route traffic is pretty well established.
|