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Originally Posted by thinreadline
Thank you Jim ... many many useful pointers here . As is often the case even with Western 'modern' edged weapons, the metal part ie the knife or sword . lasts indefinitely but its scabbard does not ... and so the owner may need to commission a scabbard locally .... hence I feel that whilst the knife itself tends to be fairly unchanging stylistically , the scabbard in contrast will reflect the local fashion and materials . We see this often for example with the takouba scabbard .
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Exactly, and this is even more so the case in North Africa. The typically rugged conditions experienced by these nomadic tribes called for frequent refurbishing of weapons much as most materials. In cases where weapons were traded or handed down, even hilts were either replaced or repaired.
The blades of course, most durable of all, have survived in these desert regions for many generations, even centuries.
In the case of the scabbards, as with most weapons, I consider the present one the most recent chapter in the working life of the weapon. As once told by a friend some time ago, a Fulani, the scabbard (in his language) was termed 'holga', which meant 'house'. I thought, much as with people, the sword (blade) simply had moved many times to new houses.