Meo (Timor)

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A meo from West Timor in the 1820s

A meo was a special warrior on the island of Timor .

The battles between the empires of ancient Timor were strictly ritualized. Before a battle, the magnificently decorated Meos stood in front of the warriors and began with war dances to stir up the mood, praise the courage of their tribe and insult their opponents. Then they withdrew and the opposing parties began shooting at each other from a great distance - initially with a bow and arrow, later with firearms. As soon as a man was killed in the process, the fight ended.

The Meos of Central Timors used a special form of surik , the Timorese sword.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monika Schlicher: Portugal in East Timor. A critical study of the Portuguese colonial history in East Timor from 1850 to 1912 (= Abera network. Asia Pacific. 4). Abera-Verlag Meyer, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-931567-08-7 (also: Heidelberg, University, dissertation, 1994).
  2. ^ Albert G. van Zonneveld: Traditional weapons of the Indonesian archipelago. C. Zwartenkot Art Books, Leiden 2001, ISBN 90-5450-004-2 , p. 133.