A cimpaba (sometimes tshimphaaba or chimpaba) is a

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

from the

Woyo Ngoyo was an Iron Age kingdom state of the Woyo ethnic group, located in the south of Cabinda (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola). Located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, just north of the Congo River, it was f ...

of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Uses

It is a Woyo dignitary's symbol. It is part of the attributes of power of the ''Mangoyo'' (the king).Habi Buganza Mulinda, ''Aux origines du royaume de Ngoyo''
/ref> Its shape is very special and cannot be confused with any other type of African knives or swords, the handle is often made of ivory. The cimpaba is also used among the

Kakongo Kakongo was a small kingdom located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, in the modern-day Republic of the Congo and Cabinda Province, Angola. Along with its neighboring kingdoms of Ngoyo and Kingdom of Loango, Loango, Kakongo became an import ...

and the ViliTristan Arbousse Bastide: ''Du couteau au sabre'', Verlag Archaeopress, 2008 , S. 8

/ref> in the

Muanda Moanda or Muanda is a town and territory lying on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the mouth of the Congo River., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency It is situated in Kongo Central Province, ...

region, in the lower Congo.Manfred A. Zirngibl, Alexander Kubetz: ''panga na visu. Kurzwaffen, geschmiedete Kultgegenstände und Schilde aus Afrika.'' HePeLo-Verlag, 2009, , S. 183 u. 307

References

Bibliography

* Joseph Balu Balila, ''L'investiture des chefs spirituels Woyo'', 1998, 81 p. *

Joseph-Aurélien Cornet Joseph-Aurélien Cornet (born 20 May 1919 in Bièvre, died 20 January 2004 in Ciney, Belgium) was a Belgian-born Christian Brother, ethnologist and art historian who documented the art and culture of the Congolese region and people of the Congo ...

, ''Pictographies Woyo'', PORO, Associazione degli Amici dell'Arte Extraeuropea, Milan, 1980, 141 p. * Harriet McGuire, « Woyo pot lids », ''African Arts'' (Los Angeles), n° 13-2, février 1980, p. 54-56. * Habi Buganza Mulinda, « Aux origines du royaume de Ngoyo », ''Civilisations'', n°41, 1993, p. 165-187. Blade weapons African swords Daggers Knives {{Sword-stub