Ethiopian shotel

[Martin Lubojacky]

As for the age, I believe that older shotels or jile/gile-swords than from the second third of the 19th century have not survived (maybe in some museums?), and I would welcome any evidence to the contrary. I also think they were used roughly until the 1940s – see, for example, the photograph of Tigray people with a shotel in hand from 1935.

Jile/gile daggers (not swords) are still "used" (basically more or less as part of the traditional costume...). Over time their shape also changed slightly – see the photo from a celebration in Addis Ababa (December 2018) and the old photo of the Afars. These daggers were/are used by several ethnic groups, not only by the Afar themselves but also, for example, by the Kereyu, Itu, and others. Accordingly, the decoration, especially of the scabbards and hilts, could vary, but only a little . Jile/gile used by the Issa group also differed in that they were narrower and longer, and the lower part of the hilt slid into the scabbard – see the photo of the Issa from the desert. I am also attaching an approximately 15-year-old photo of several pieces from my collection.

As far as gile-sword is concerned, I have seen a jile/gile-sword with people in an old photo only once (whereas old photos of shotels with people several times; perhaps the shotel was more common ??) - unfortunately I do not have that picture. I believe it also dates to the 1930s–1940s.

As for the red colour, shotel scabbards and gorade scabbards made of thick rawhide were often covered with fine red “goatskin” with embossed patterns. In my opinion this was purely decorative and had nothing to do with Maasai swords.