A trumbash or trombash is a Mangbetu

throwing knife A throwing knife is a knife that is specially designed and weighted so that it can be thrown effectively. They are a distinct category from ordinary knives. Throwing knives are used by many cultures around the world, and as such different tacti ...

from 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

Similar to a

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...

, the ''trumbash'' was used as a throwing weapon or as

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

. The handle is usually made of wood, but it can be made of ivory or bone. It is more or less decorated, according to the rank of its owner and the use that is made of it.Werner Fischer, Manfred A. Zirngibl, ''African Weapons: Knives, Daggers, Swords, Axes, Throwing Knives'', 1978, p.67 The curved blade is made of iron.

Gallery

File:African Trumbash - Mangbetu curved knife.jpg File:Brooklyn Museum 22.462 Knife Trumbash.jpg File:Brooklyn Museum 22.457 Knife Ivory Handle Trumbash.jpg, Trumbash with an ivory handle File:Knife - Mangbetu - Royal Museum for Central Africa - DSC06546.JPG File:Knife - Mangbetu - Royal Museum for Central Africa - DSC06545.JPG, Trumbash with a anthropomorphic handle File:Mangbetu knife 2.jpg

References

Bibliography

* Jan Elsen, ''De fer et de fierté, Armes blanches d’Afrique noire du Musée Barbier-Mueller'', 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2003, * Tom Crowley, Andrew Mills, ''Weapons, Culture and the Anthropology Museum'', 2018 Blade weapons Throwing axes Axes African weapons Daggers Knives Throwing weapons {{DRCongo-stub