African sickle swords

Jim McDougall · 27th October 2023, 03:58 AM

This really is a fascinating topic, and it is hard to follow sometimes as the names of the tribes seem to vary through transliteration, and the terms for the weapons themselves are equally hard to follow.

It seems in these various tribes of Congo regions the throwing knives, while following the same multi blade theme, are varied notably with terms being different in the same way.

I have but one example of a sword of the Congo which has some relation to the 'sickle swords', note the half moon fixture at top of blade near hilt, which I understand is to attach a leather strap. The rounded shape of the blade seems to correspond to one of the blades on the 'kpinga' throwing knife.
References have called this a 'war sickle' of Boa (Baboa) Nsakara and Yakoma tribes among others but it seems to be a form of the 'mambele' as yours.

The attached image is from "The Four Feathers", starring Heath Ledger (2002), a truly phenomenal film.
Note the raised Zande sword in the background.

27th October 2023, 03:58 AM	#6
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,191	This really is a fascinating topic, and it is hard to follow sometimes as the names of the tribes seem to vary through transliteration, and the terms for the weapons themselves are equally hard to follow. It seems in these various tribes of Congo regions the throwing knives, while following the same multi blade theme, are varied notably with terms being different in the same way. I have but one example of a sword of the Congo which has some relation to the 'sickle swords', note the half moon fixture at top of blade near hilt, which I understand is to attach a leather strap. The rounded shape of the blade seems to correspond to one of the blades on the 'kpinga' throwing knife. References have called this a 'war sickle' of Boa (Baboa) Nsakara and Yakoma tribes among others but it seems to be a form of the 'mambele' as yours. The attached image is from "The Four Feathers", starring Heath Ledger (2002), a truly phenomenal film. Note the raised Zande sword in the background. Attached Images Last edited by Jim McDougall; 27th October 2023 at 04:21 AM.