Mugusu (weapon)

Mugusu (weapon)
Information
Weapon type:	Knife, throwing weapon
Designations:	Mugusu
Use:	Ceremonial weapon
Creation time:	before 1920
Working time:	til today
Region of origin / ; author:	Africa , ethnic group of the Lega
Distribution:	Africa , Democratic Republic of the Congo
Overall length:	variable, about 28 cm to 35 cm
Handle:	bone
Particularities:	The entire knife is made from elephant bones
Lists on the subject

Distribution according to Jan Elsen; Group II.A

The Mugusu is an African ceremonial knife of the Bwami cult of the Lega in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is counted among the Central African sickle weapons .

description

The mugusu is made entirely from elephant bones. The top of the hammer head is crescent-shaped, stylistically similar to a scaled-down hornbill knife.

The surrounding edge is made thinner to serve as a cutting edge. The impact head is offset on one side by a corner towards the handle. The handle (handle) is round and club-shaped at the bottom. Circular decorations are carved on part of the handle and the blade.

meaning

The mugusu is a symbolic version of the hip Umuhoro . The sickle-shaped head symbolizes that it is only possible to cut a path through joint efforts (jungle scrub). According to Daniel P. Biebuyck , the mugusu is a sign of the realization: “It doesn't work without the help of many.” It is one of many symbols within the various initiation rites of acceptance into the Bwami group and assignment to one of the seven social levels for men or to one of the four social levels for women.

Another type of bone knife from the Bwami cult is the dagger- shaped kabemba .

literature

Daniel P. Biebuyck : Lega culture . Art, initiation, and moral philosophy among a Central African people. University of California Press, 1973, ISBN 0-520-02085-5 ( google.ca ).
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 , p. 156 and Figures 362-363 .
Jan Elsen : The sickle weapons, Vol 1. Part III: North to Central Zaïre. including their further distribution to the north and west. Tribal Arms Monographs, Volume 1, No. 1., Brussels, Tribal Arms, 2000, ISBN 2930169036

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Daniel P. Biebuyck : Lega culture . Art, initiation, and moral philosophy among a Central African people. University of California Press, 1973, ISBN 0-520-02085-5 , pp. 330 ( google.de ).
↑ Elsen: The sickle weapons, Vol 1.Part III , pp. 17, 59
↑ 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 , p. 156 and Figure 361 .

[Lega330-1] A ^b Daniel P. Biebuyck : Lega culture . Art, initiation, and moral philosophy among a Central African people. University of California Press, 1973, ISBN 0-520-02085-5 , pp. 330 ( google.de ).

[2] Elsen: The sickle weapons, Vol 1.Part III , pp. 17, 59

[3] 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 , p. 156 and Figure 361 .