Trumbash

King Mbunza with Trumbash as a status weapon, depiction around 1874

Distribution according to Jan Elsen; Group II.C

The Trumbasch (also Trombash , Trombacha , Mambele ) is a sickle-shaped knife from the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , from the area around the Bomokandi River . The knife, one of the Central African sickle weapons, served as a weapon, tool and, mainly in high-quality versions, as a status weapon . These weapons are particularly typical of the Mangbetu . Neighboring ethnic groups such as Budu, Momvu , Boa , Bandia , Avungara-Azande , So, Topoke, Makere, Popoi, Mangbele, Malele, Meje or Barambo also use this type of knife.

designation

The name is inconsistent. Trumbasch is often used, although this name probably does not come from Mangbetu. The Azande called their throwing irons . The term Mambele probably comes from m'bêl and has the general meaning knife on the Uelle River . The term dupa is also used, which is most likely derived from the Mangbetu. In the Mangbetu language, nedupua or neduba also generally means knife .

description

The trumbasch has a sickle-shaped, double-edged (inner and outer) blade with a pointed end. The blade is made of steel or copper . The two sides of the blade (right and left) are processed in the same way, which distinguishes them from the throwing irons found in the north . Some specimens have small iron pins on the blade near the handle. The purpose is decoration because it is unlikely to be a guard . Often round perforations can be found in the blade which are used for decoration.

The handle is made of wood or ivory . The handle is usually made cylindrical with changing diameters. Sometimes the handle ends in a stylized human head. Sometimes the handles are wrapped with metal bands. The total length averages about 40 cm.

The simple examples could be used as weapons and utility knives , but most of them are elaborate ceremonial and status weapons . Use as primitive money is also likely. In early publications, the Trumbasche were incorrectly assigned to thrown weapons . When the German Africa explorer Georg Schweinfurth met the Mangbetu king Mbunza in 1870, the king wore a copper trumbasch. The Trumbasche were popular collectibles among Europeans at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Variants:

• 

  A.

• 

  B.

• 

  C.

• 

  D.

• 

  E.

• A: "Asymmetrical" blade where the outer edge is shorter than the inner; often a distinctive central ridge, often a large cylindrical knob.
• B: similar to A but with an "offset" blade; is considered a parade and status weapon and especially as a royal as insignia.
• C: an angular appearance of the blade, the blade becomes wider at the back, the handle sits on the back or at the center of the blade, total size on average about 40 cm.
• D: elongated form, occurs in the south of the occurrence area.
• E: rare, artistic form with a split blade.

literature

• Manfred A. Zirngibl: Rare African short weapons , Verlag Prinz Verlag, 1983
• Jan Elsen : Tribal Arms Monographs Vol I / No.3 - The sickle weapons Part 3 , Tribal Arts Verlag, Brussels, 2000, ISBN 2-930169-03-6
• 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 .
• Tristan Arbousse Bastide : Traditional weapons of Africa (billhooks, sickles and scythes) , British Archaeological Reports, 2010, ISBN 1-4073-0690-1

Web links

Commons : Trumbash  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Trumbashe from the Guido T. Poppe Collection
• Trumbash at forensicfashion.com
• Trumbash description and picture at ogun.qc.ca

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, p. 26
2. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 17
3. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 17
4. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 25
5. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, p. 29
6. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, pp. 17, 24–45
7. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, pp. 55–59
8. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, pp. 55–59
9. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 29
10. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, pp. 55–59
11. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 17
12. ^ Zirngibl: Rare African short weapons , 1983, p. 86
13. ↑ Zirngibl: panga na visu , 2009 p. 300
14. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, pp. 55–59
15. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, p. 59
16. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 25
17. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 31
18. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, p. 58
19. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 35
20. ↑ Bastide: Traditional weapons of africa , 2010, p. 55
21. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 17
22. ↑ Elsen: Sichelwaffen Part 3 , 2000, p. 39