The Manding sword, the Tuareg aljuinar and Omani curved kattara: Are they connected?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Jim,

I think the "zig-zags" you are referring to is Churchill's rendering of the cords that bind the top and bottom "heads" of what is often called the "talking drum" and is seen through large swaths of Africa. Of course, I may be wrong.

This is, again, the problem with artists' renderings. Much is left up to perceptions and even the imagination, especially in a drawing as generalized as that one.

Ahah! so there they are. I had thought the 'talking drums' were from West Africa, and there was an article someplace I had on them. It seemed like so much of the cliche' in Tarzan movies but turned out to be truly fascinating cultural reality.
I need to find that flyssa again.
The thing is, like you say, these or ones like them surely must have appeared in a wide scope in Africa if they were known in Kabyle regions in Algeria.

edit: I just found the reference and it was West Africa, with the concept moving into Saharan regions, Mali, Burkino-Faso etc. and on into Hausa land. From here it is not hard to see how these drums made it well into Algeria, or far to the east.....to Zanzibar. This well concurs with the maps and support for the paths which connected West to East in our study.

The zig-zags are indeed a good example of artistic license, and stylized form. While the zig zags should be cords, the hourglass shape is correct, and the curved sabres' shape mindful of the Samurai style sword may well represent the long hilt of the Omani curved kattara,.