Seme (dagger)

Sketch of a seme

A seme,[1][2] simi[3] or ol alem[4] is a type of dagger or short sword used by the Maasai and Kikuyu peoples of Kenya in East Africa.[3][5]

They have a distinctive leaf-shaped blade, with a relatively rounded point. Scabbards are generally made of wood covered with rawhide, and dyed red.

Notes

  1. "Kenyan Maasai "Ol Alem" ", connectingcultures.us
  2. "African Masai Seme (Ol Alem)", Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour
  3. 1 2 "Kikuyu simi with scabbard", IWM
  4. "Ol alem (sword)", John Woodman Higgins Armory collection
  5. Stone, George Cameron; LaRocca, Donald J. (1999). A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: In All Countries and in All Times. Dover Publications. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5. Retrieved 2008-12-29.

Further reading

See also


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