Sudanese? Throwing knife

[Tim Simmons]

That is splendid with what looks like a super dark patina. The funny thing is I am beginning to think that many of these things were shiny bright when in use. Sudanic is a broad term, I would say, for it is worth, it was from the Nigerian and Cameroon areas. Many historians and ethnologists have made exhaustive lists of throwing knives and yet we still know very little about them. Tim

[Andy Stevens]

Hello Tim
We must have that cup of tea sometime!! Have you any idea ofthe age of this item? It came from Arundel and was originally part of a large collection of Ethnic items that was housed in the town.

[Freddy]

Very nice throwing knife. I have never seen this form......and I like it.

In one of my books, 'Seltene Afrikanische Kurzwaffen' (rare African short weapons) by Manfred A. Zirngibl (1983), I found a picture of another throwing knife. It has a different form, but I noticed that the decoration was similar.

According to Zirngibl the origin of this piece is the Sudan. This is what he writes :

The design of these two throwing knives indicates their belonging to the 'North Group' mentioned in the introduction.
Although Germann described the knife pictured on the right in his 1922 article "African Iron and Wood Throwing Weapons in the Leipzig Etnographic Museum" as a "Fundj" throwing knife, the modern opinion is that this type of weapon was most likely used exclusively in the eastern Sudan and in the region between the White and Blue Nile. This view is also held by Pat R. Mc Naughton in his article, "The Throwing Knife in African History".
Especially with the help of this weapon type we can see to what degree the classification efforts of earlier authors diverge. Frobenius, for example, lists the home of this throwing iron as being the Kordofan region on the eastern shore of Lake Chad whereas Dr. D. Olderogge of Leningrad states that it is a Haussa creation. The Englishman L. F. Nalder, on the other hand, maintains that the Ingassana are the true creators. The Austrian Junker, however, flatly declares it to be a throwing knife of the Blue Nile.
The piece shown here with the leather covered handle an the leather braiding midway along the snake-shaped blade has a delicately engraved design on both sides.
It is easier to classify the plain-looking knife on the left. It was acquired by Werner Fischer from the Zulgo, the northeastern neighbours of the Matakam. The exact location was Mogode, a village tot the South of Mokolo.





Look at the decoration on the second picture.

From the text, mentioned above, you can understand that it is not easy to identify these throwing irons.

[Freddy]

I have a throwing knife in my collection, similar to the one on the left (see pics above).

It took quite some time to identify it. A very knowledgeable person directed me to the book, I mentioned before. Although my piece is smaller, it has a similar form.

This throwing knife has a very simple design. The handle is covered in cloth. Total length : 53 cm. Origin : Zulgo (Eastern Sudan).





P.S. : For those interested : Zirngibl published two books on African Weapons. These books are still available at the publisher. Here's the link :

https://ssl.kundenserver.de/s8782122...dex.shopscript

[Freddy]

Sorry, the link I provided is the wrong one. Just type 'Zirngibl' in the search engine (Schnellsuche).

Freddy