An ikul or ikula is a knife or a short sword of the Kuba of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The ikul consists of a leaf-shaped blade (iron or copper or wood) and a wooden handle finished with a round knob with sometimes decorative inlays.

2023年5月20日 · Discover the African Sword known as Ikul or Kuba Ikul that was made for peace rather than war. Explore its unique traits, uses, as well as its history and origins.

One prominent Kuba knife, the ikul —worn by men in public as insignia—has a curved blade shaped like a broad leaf. Both its sides are blackened and selectively polished to highlight the midrib and one of its two beveled edges.

Short Sword, Ikul Kuba, D.R. Congo Iron, wood, brass Early 20th century. Every adult Kuba man carried an ikul in historical times. As occurred in many other cultures, the sword served as a symbol of adult masculinity. The Kuba are notable for their skills in blacksmithing and the importance in which they hold the community's blacksmith.

This short-sword or knife is known as an ikul and was collected in Kasai from the Kuba people. It exhibits a distinctive feature of many Central African blades, which is the Z-shaped or ogee section. The blade is artistically made; it has attractive curved fullers (grooves), and the two blade halves on each side are polished silver and dulled ...

This short sword (ikul) has delicately inlaid brass on its wooden handle, which recalls Kuba raffia mat patterns, and engraved fullers in its copper blade. Such short swords are associated with masculine power and Kuba royalty.

The ikul, or peace knife, was instituted by an early Kuba king to supersede the decidedly martial ilwoon (war sword). In 1910 one ikul commanded 5,000 cowrie shells on the local market—the equivalent of eight yards of European trade-cloth (Ginzberg 2000: 177).

Introduced by King Shyaam in the second quarter of the 17th century, the ikul replaced the warrior's throwing knife and proclaimed an era of peace. Note the elaborate inlaid metal patterns in the handle and the incised lines in the blade. The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate.

2025年3月2日 · IKUL sword knife, from the KUBA/BAKUBA tribe. He is originally from the Kasai province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It can be considered a short sword. Formerly, these knives were the symbol of masculinity and the …

The Kuba made exact wooden copies of many types of knives and swords. Known as ikulintey , these wooden weapons were worn during the period of the new moon (i.e. the monthly three-day period when there was no moon in the sky), which was also when the main rituals of …