Itapi
| Itapi | |
|---|---|
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| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Dignity |
| Designations: | Itapi |
| Distribution: | Dengesic |
| Overall length: | about 50 cm |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Itapi is a sign of dignity of the Central African Dengese . They were used by the Ntochi secret society, the upper class of the Dengese.
The Itapi consists of a blade that branches off at a right angle at the upper end and thus gives the mark of dignity a hammer-shaped appearance. The total length is about 50 cm.
The shape is derived from the sickle weapons of the Mongo . The material is usually wood ; very few specimens are made of iron . The execution in wood probably goes back to the influence of the Cuban Federation . The Kuba use wooden versions of the Ikul knife . Iron itapis were banned after manslaughter among drunken Ntochi members .
On bronze plates of the Kingdom of Benin you can find images of warriors with a hammer-shaped object. The Austrian ethnologist Walter Hirschberg believes it is possible that these are images of Itapis. The founder of the Cuban Federation, Shyaam aMbul aNgoong , established extensive trade contacts , possibly also with the Kingdom of Benin. The Dengese are the northern neighbors of the Cuba and both groups have some cultural features in common.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Jan Elsen: Tribal Arms Monographs Vol I / No.1 - Die Sichelwaffen Part 1 Verlag Tribal art, Brussels, 1996, ISBN 2-930169-01-X , pp. 50–53.
- ↑ a b Manfred A. Zirngibl , Alexander Kubetz: panga na visu. Handguns, forged cult objects and shields from Africa. HePeLo-Verlag, Riedlhütte 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811254-2-9 , illustrations p. 212, text p. 312.
- ↑ Marc Leopold Felix : Kipinga: throwing-blades of central Africa , publisher F. Jahn, 1991, p 199th