Sboula for Comments

roanoa · 5th November 2024, 11:06 PM

Behold, the power of rumors.... When Linbert published his ground braking booklet on African weapons, there was indeed very little published on the subject. And whatever he said in his booklet was taken by most as gospel. However, the mistakes are many. Including the sboula being manufactured by the Fellashas. Where did he get that idea? Rumor (again) says that some were inscribed in Ge'ez. Was the strange "lettering" on the blade mistake for the very obscure amharic/ge'ez writing? I, for one, would LOVE to see such a blade before making any additional comment.

TVV · 6th November 2024, 01:24 AM

I believe Lindert got the idea from the seller who sold him the sboula. It looks like his travels were predominantly in Eastern Africa, and therefore whatever he bought there, he simply ascribed to the location where he bought it, along with whatever tales the sellers gave him. In a day and age without internet and less than scholarly approach to collecting arms and armor from Africa, anything published was propagated as the truth. We are fortunate to have the benefit of better sources and works on the subject more than half a century later.

5th November 2024, 11:06 PM	#1
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 241	Behold, the power of rumors.... When Linbert published his ground braking booklet on African weapons, there was indeed very little published on the subject. And whatever he said in his booklet was taken by most as gospel. However, the mistakes are many. Including the sboula being manufactured by the Fellashas. Where did he get that idea? Rumor (again) says that some were inscribed in Ge'ez. Was the strange "lettering" on the blade mistake for the very obscure amharic/ge'ez writing? I, for one, would LOVE to see such a blade before making any additional comment.

6th November 2024, 01:24 AM	#2
TVV Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bay Area Posts: 1,664	I believe Lindert got the idea from the seller who sold him the sboula. It looks like his travels were predominantly in Eastern Africa, and therefore whatever he bought there, he simply ascribed to the location where he bought it, along with whatever tales the sellers gave him. In a day and age without internet and less than scholarly approach to collecting arms and armor from Africa, anything published was propagated as the truth. We are fortunate to have the benefit of better sources and works on the subject more than half a century later.