slida, svärd, kaskara

The cruciform hilt, with quillons flaring towards their ends, and the blade, slightly tapered from hilt to point, are characteristics of the kaskara sword. (Often the two edges run parallel until the very tip of the weapon and the hilt may be made entirely of decorative metal work as in the case of the kaskara which were made for Ali Dinar, a rebel leader who led a slave army in Darfur during the 1910's. The sheath of red leather flares into a leaf-shaped tip similar to that of the Manding sheath, (it was sometimes embellished with crocodile or lizard skin). This one is decorated with geometric designs. Slung over the shoulder by means of a short leather strap, the kaskara was carried across the back and parallel to the ground or with the sheath held between the upper arm and body.
In the central and eastern Sudan, from Chad through Darfur and across to the Red Sea province, the straight, double-edged swords known as kaskara were an essential possession of most men. Characteristic of the eastern Sudan, the kaskara is still worn by well-to-do older men from Darfur to the Red Sea Province.Swords blades forged in such great smithies as those of Solingen in Germany, Toledo in Spain and Belluno in Italy were traded across the Sahara from the Mediterranean ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Alexandria. They also came into ports on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and, from the fifteenth century onwards, the Portuguese ports of Mauretania probably traded blades to the western Sudan. These blades would have been fitted with locally made hilts. Talismanic inscriptions

might be added to the blade to protect its owner from harm It is sometimes suggested that the cross-hilt swords of Sudanic Africa, particularly the kaskara, owe their design to an influx of European crusader swords during the thirteenth century.

Baldric : the swords hangs at the hip by means of a decorative and brightly coloured woolen baldric which is sling over the shoulder. P41, p28 fig.23
Worn on the left side by means of a baldric slung over the right shoulder p24

Svärd med slida.
Längd: 104,5 cm, Bredd: 14,8 cm, Tjocklek: 4 cm.
Ursprung: Eritrea
Etnisk grupp: Mensa

Sword with sheath.
Length: 104,5 cm, Width: 14,8 cm, Thickness: 4 cm.
Origin: Eritrea
Ethnic group: Mensa (utställningstext, Horisonter - röster från ett globalt Afrika)