African spear, so-called assagai or assegai, with a wooden shaft and a symmetric, narrow leaf-shaped metal tip. The spearhead is slightly ribbed and put into the shaft by means of a tang. Below the tip, the shaft is wrapped with braided wire. The lower end of the shaft is thickened in form of a knob.
The assagai comes from the southern Africa, presumably Namibia or South Africa. The spear is either part of the collection of weapons from Martin Fehl that came as a gift into the Gewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied Arts) Ulm in 1920 or from the collection of Ulrich Hößle, which the families Hößle and Hettich dedicated to the museum as a loan in 1923. Due to the missing designation and the missing details in the description of the objects in the inventory a distinct attribution is not possible.
The assagai was a type of spear that was especially widespread in South Africa; it was originally a javelin. This one probably was intended for stabbing because of its short shaft and the big, heavy blade. Under the Zulu king Shaka, the assagai was adjusted and refined during a military reform (1816 - 1828). Thus, the form of a short spear for stabbing in close combats emerged that the warriors carried in one hand to use the other hand for the shield.
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