Ethiopian swords

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Hi Jim, The Shotel sword is mentioned in Wiki here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotel but does not give a concise origin of the word.
Perhaps if one had a very rough night and woke up in a strange bed it could be called a "Shhotel" if the brain was a bit foggy??
Stu

I saw the Wiki entry also, actually got the note about the 18th c. reference using the term shotel for a carving knife. In this Wiki entry they state that the shotel dates back to these ancient groups in Ethiopia and that they had forces using these weapons and called the forces 'shotelai'. this begs the question were they called this because of the name of the weapon or was the weapon named for the force. That would mean there was a root word involved.


Whatever the case it seems that the term is used in a broader sense for sword/knife etc. much as the situation with many ethnographic edged weapons. We have seen this so many times in these discussions, and we could write a book on the countless misnomers, collectors terms, semantics and transliterations. I was once told by a reliable authority that in many of the Malaysian and Indonesian spheres weapons are called by different terms almost village to village. Perhaps exaggerated of course, but the point is well placed.

[roanoa]

It is good to see that interest in Ethiopian swords is still there.... and that good swords are still to be found. I cannot see the blade of the European hilted sword well enough to identify it. Where is the suggestion that it is Italian came from? The majority of these that I have seen mount German blades. A few British and very few French.

[roanoa]

As far as I know SHOTEL is not an Amharic word, rather it is from Tigrai and what is now Eritrea and it means BIG KNIFE. Amharic for sword is GORADE (actually spelled with the "O" and not the "U").

[roanoa]

Hi, Tokashikibob. Move them on?? Let me know.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by roanoa

As far as I know SHOTEL is not an Amharic word, rather it is from Tigrai and what is now Eritrea and it means BIG KNIFE. Amharic for sword is GORADE (actually spelled with the "O" and not the "U").

Thank you Ron! Not only good to see interest in the Ethiopian swords out there but to see you enter in. You were always my primary source for reliable data on Ethiopian weapons, and I still have the great paper you wrote on them years ago.

I think the idea that this European sword was Italian is that curious rise in the grip is an Italian characteristic in military swords on 19th c. (I think my source was 'Calemendrei' on Italian military swords not on hand at the moment).


The point I was making re: the use of shotel in classifying the European style bladed examples with the familiar hilt shape of rhino is due to the broader application typically occurring in collectors circles (the breeding ground for collectors terms) associating the hilt style.


While 'gurade' is of course proper for sword, it is transliteration and collectors use with these terms from different languages that contributes to the confusion. The use of 'big knife' and various applications for swords is a common occurence in a number of situations in many ethnic groups and cultures. For collectors, it is all the 'name game' in desperately trying to classify thier items......for students of arms, it is more cross referencing and broader descriptive explanation.

[kronckew]

If is recall correctly, the Ethiopean Imperial guard used a sword that looks much like a 1796LC or Blutcher with the Ethiopean Lion and amharic lettering etched, were generally carried in a fairly plain locally madeblack leather scabbard by the well dressed and properly western style dress-uniformed guardsman, who did NOT wear shoes. They ran, marched everywhere, at speed barefoot and I gather, quite good warriors. Just not enough of them. The OP's sword may have been captured from the Italians.

Here is the IMperial Guard Officers with more up-to-date British style swords. Our member Katana has/had one of the 1796 type...

[roanoa]

Well, my friends, I for one go a very simple rule when it comes to Abyssinian swords: shotel = sickle shaped; gorade = single edge curved sabre; se'f (saif) straight blade (including kaskara). This is accepted internationally by researchers and collectors. Then the unsolvable problem of the "Imperial Guards" swords. In Menelik II's times they were all over the place in terms of design and "European" origin. The most common one, and probably the "real" one, is the one with German blade with the inscription MENELIK and SAINT GEORGE. Locally made scabbard. In Haile' Selassie's times we start to see more identifiable pattern for which there is, at last, photographic evidence. THIN STRAIGHT blades with a peculiar inscription (LOVE YOUR COUNTRY - HONOR YOUR EMPEROR); lion head pommel with MULTI-BRANCHED guard and steel scabbard. Other patterns were used by the cavalry. Cheers.

[MUFASA]

very nice and interesting topic.... Thanks