A koummya- and contexts

[Rick]

I would think one would be hard put to sever a limb with a blow from a fleece.
Form follows function, I would think in this case.
Since we are in the same neighborhood, and this thread started out with the Koummya, are there any thoughts to be had on the Genoui, the straight bladed dagger from this same culture?

[Pertinax]

[QUOTE=Rick;296768]I would think one would be hard put to sever a limb with a blow from a fleece.
Form follows function, I would think in this case.

The Kabyles had the habit of cutting off the heads of captured and defeated enemies. This tradition goes back to ancient times.

Gaius Sallust Crispa "Jugurtha War", late 40s BC:

- The Numidians, following their orders, brought his head (from Hiempsal) to Jugurtha.

Lapene describes:

- Revenge among the Arabs, especially among the Kabaileans, is not considered complete, and the bloody mission is not accomplished, unless the head of the enemy is thrown at the feet of his rival.

- This habit of crime makes them cruel. They are even among themselves, from tribe to tribe, merciless enemies. If a Frenchman falls into their hands, they kill him on the spot, committing all sorts of atrocities on his corpse. They shed blood as if from necessity, and one might say, with inexpressible pleasure. Women share these feelings, and they tear men to pieces.

- There is nothing more terrible than the fate that befalls ships, no matter what their flag, when in danger or shipwrecked on an inhospitable coast. First the men are dragged ashore in the delusive hope of helping them, then they are actually thrown upon, the cargo is plundered, the ship is destroyed, the throats of the crew are cut. Here the most influential, apparently the calmest or the wisest leaders set an example of black ferocity. - They rush with mad fury upon a soldier, a wounded officer, who, unable to defend himself, becomes an easy prey. We have seen how, in particular, during the retreat at Medea, they pounced like vultures upon soldiers, officers, who were struck down and fought hand to hand with the escort and seized their victim. They show no quarter to a living enemy who remains in their hands. They beat him with unimaginable violence, maimed him, tore him to pieces, and finally cut off his head. They rush with the same fury at a man who falls mortally wounded, attack his corpse, maim it and behead him. Indulging in such horrors, they believe that they have earned good from God and their country. They carry off the heads like so many trophies, display them with fierce joy and narrate with an accent all the circumstances of the battle. - To carry a dead man from the battlefield is a religious duty. This protects him from being beheaded, otherwise how could an angel seize him and carry him to Paradise with the help of the only tuft of hair (Ketaya) provided for this purpose on his shaved head. Thus, near the corpse of a fallen man, there is always a hand-to-hand fight and a fierce struggle to save the body from the adversaries, and triumph is bought only by new deaths.

[Marc M.]

These are the only koumiyas I have, perhaps too few to confirm my thesis, on all three the shape of the handle is such that an integrated 'hand stop' is formed. On the middle one this is very minimal. However in all three the blade against the handle is not sharp and this maximum thickness of the blade is 2.4 and 5 cm long at the inner curve. At the outer curvature, this unsharpness is much longer. That the thickness of the blade is so present on most koumiyas I have seen is in all likelihood spike for a reason. If the hand does slide off the blade under impact those blunt edges are there to keep the hand from doing damage, admittedly limited but still.
Regards
Marc

[Jim McDougall]

RobT, thank you .....STATUS & UTILITY absolutely of shared importance. As collectors, typically we are attracted not only to certain various fields of collecting, but to different aspects of the arms and cultures.

"...show the connoisseur the arms of a people, and he will tell you about its culture".
-Joseph Lepkowski (1857)
*from frontispiece of "Polish Side Arms", Nadolski

Rick- absolutely good catch..............the 'genouii' is important as, if I understand correctly, simply the local term for basically a koummya with straight blade rather than curved.

There are a number of Moroccan edged weapons which might be observed as well, such as the s'boula, which is typically straight blade (often bayonets) and often with 'H' type hilt.

Perrtinax, as Ian has well said, your notable knowledge on the flyssa and these subject weapons is remarkable, and sharing it here with us totally expands our collective knowledge base.......exactly why we're here.

Marc, nice examples! The center one with bone handle seems very much liked my example in original post.

Great discussion guys, thank you all so much. While other weapon forms are brought in as analogies, the perspective added to understanding of the weapon in discussion, the koummya, is outstanding.