African arm knuckle

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Turkana warrior with wrist knife, around 1888

African Armschlagringe are traditional African weapons of iron , which were also used as jewelry and tools. There are different shapes, as a disc with a rotating blade or as a band with thorns or spikes. The arm knuckles were worn on the arm or wrist like a bracelet . They were mainly used by the Nilotic peoples in the north of East Africa , but were also found in the large central Sudan landscape . Similar weapons are found in South America .

to form

A blade / wrist knife

The single-bladed wrist knives usually have the shape of a round or slightly oval thin disc (Figure AB). There are also variants in which the blade protrudes like a tongue (Figure C). The diameter is about 20-25 centimeters. In the middle is an opening the diameter of a wrist or forearm. The blade is perforated so that the knife can be pulled onto the arm. The inside is padded with leather to protect the arm. The outer edge is sharpened and, when the ring is worn on the arm, is covered by a leather strip that is attached to the cutting edge. Before the fight, the protective leather strips could be removed quickly. These wrist knives are particularly typical of the Turkana , where they are called ararait or abarait . They were also used by various other ethnic groups such as Dassanetch , Nyangatom , Boya , Lokoya , Bari , Murle , Acholi , Karamojong , Toposa , Didinga, and Pokot .

  • A.

  • B.

  • C.

Double blade

The double-bladed shape is rarer than the single-bladed shape on the disc. With the double shape, the metal band that encloses the wrist is bent over on both sides. This creates two parallel blades, both about 2.5 centimeters high. This form is known to the Nuba (Sudan), Murle (Sudan) and Hausa (Nigeria). The Hausa call the arm knuckles Baura , the Nuba Zuar .

  • Iron Bracelet.jpg

With thorns

Arm knuckles with serrated or serrated blades or with thorns are less common than the wrist knives with their continuous blade. Bracelets studded with thorns are known to the Lotuko and Moru from South Sudan (Figure AB) and to the women of the Ouled Nail (Figure C). Arm knuckles with two long spinous processes were used by the Bongo , Dinka, and Jur (Figure D).

  • A.

  • B.

  • C.

  • D.

use

Lotuko warrior with a thorn-studded arm knuckle, around 1888

As a rule, arm knuckles were only worn on one arm. Often they were also viewed as jewelry, which is typical of traditional African weapons. Larger versions of the arm knuckle with two thorns were also worn as necklaces and for self-defense.

Arm knuckles with blades were sometimes also used as tools, e.g. B. to skin animals or to cut meat.

Often the arm knuckles were not tied to the status of the warrior, which distinguishes them from other traditional weapons (e.g. bow , spear , sword ). So they were worn not only by warriors, but also by women and children.

Arm knuckles were used as a weapon in close combat . If there was a fight, the arm knuckle was pushed firmly onto the lower part of the hand. It was also used in traditional stick fighting to parry the opposing stick and, if necessary, to block and hold it.

The arm knuckles are still of great importance in ritual fighting games , which are usually performed as thanks for a successful harvest . They are known to the Maguzawa and Hausa in northern Nigeria , where they are called shanci and Shenzi , respectively. In South Sudan they are found among the Moru and the Nuba as Timbra . The fighters can prove their strength and courage. The fighting games are a highlight of village life and at the same time an outlet for aggression. The Nuba are proud of the fact that otherwise there is hardly any violence among one another. The fighting games also form part of the initiation rite .

The fighting game is usually accompanied by rhythmic drum beats and singing. While the hand with the arm knuckle is attacking the opponent, the other hand fends off. In some regions, the fighters wield a small fist shield with their defending hand . In addition, the fighters use kick , grappling and throwing techniques . The main goal is to hit the opponent on the top of the skull with the arm knuckle . The fighting games are bloody and dangerous, but deaths are rare. In order to minimize the risk, the fight is watched by referees , mostly former fighters. A hit can end the fighting game; if one of the fighters is too badly injured, the fight is stopped. This also happens if the rules are violated - dangerous actions such as uppercut are prohibited - or if one of the fighters loses self-control .

Arm knuckles were often worn until the 1980s. Fighting games with sling rings are still held today.

Web links

Commons : African Armlet  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Detlev Wahl : blood feud, headhunt, robbery. Wars and weapons of primitive peoples. Meridian-Verlag, Rostock 1999, ISBN 3-934121-01-2 . Pp. 214-215
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Christopher Spring : African Arms and Armor. British Museum Press , London 1993, ISBN 0-7141-2508-3 , pp. 115-116
  3. ↑ Tristan Arbousse Bastide: Du couteau au sabre , Verlag Archaeopress, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4073-0253-9 , p. 14 [1]
  4. ↑ Sture Lagercrantz : Contribution to the ethnography of Africa , Verlag K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1950 p. 234 [2]
  5. ↑ Georg Schweinfurth : Artes Africanae, illustrations and descriptions of productions of the industrial arts of Central African tribes , Brockhaus , 1875, panel IX, figures 13; [3]
  6. ↑ a b Sámuel Teleki : Discovery of lakes Rudolf and Stefanie , Longmans, Green and Company , 1894, p. 204 [4]
  7. ^ Günter Best: Marakwet & Turkana , Museum für Völkerkunde Frankfurt am Main , 1993, p. 57 [5]
  8. ↑ a b Pitt Rivers Museum : Iron bracelet from Sudan, Africa (object number 1884.82.23) ( Memento from August 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ^ A b c Richard Owen: Sudan Days , Troubador Publishing, 2016 ISBN 978-1-78589-567-8 , p. 76 [6]
  10. ↑ a b c d e Kilindi Iyi: The Baura Wrist Knife of Africa , in: Black Belt , April 1989, Volume 27, No. 4 ISSN  0277-3066 pp. 64-66 [7]
  11. ↑ George Cameron Stone : A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times. Southwork Press, 1934, pp. 18, 21, 22 [8]
  12. ↑ Georg Schweinfurth : Artes Africanae, illustrations and descriptions of productions of the industrial arts of Central African tribes , Brockhaus , Leipzig 1875, panel III, figures 13-15; [9]
  13. ↑ Pitt Rivers Museum : Lokoya torque
  14. ↑ Avelino Bassols: Mission in the Desert: Understanding Mission and Mission Practice in East Africa. Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, 2012, ISBN 978-3-657-77400-5 , p. 178 [10] .
  15. ^ Edward Llewellyn Powe: Combat games of northern Nigeria. Verlag D. Aiki Publications, 1994, [11]
  16. ↑ Theo Sundermeier : We can only live together: the image of man in black African religions. Verlag G. Mohn, 1988, ISBN 978-3-579-00784-7 , p. 221 [12] .
  17. ^ Theo Sundermeier : The Individual and Community in African Traditional Religions. Volume 6 of contributions to missiology and intercultural theology. Lit Verlag , 1998, ISBN 978-3-89473-937-9 , p. 189 [13] .
  18. ^ Lisa Gates: The Imperialist Imagination: German Colonialism and Its Legacy. University of Michigan , 1998, ISBN 978-0-472-06682-7 , p. 238 [14] .