A shotel () is a curved sword originating from northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. The curve on the blade varies from the Persian shamshir, adopting an almost semicircular shape. The blade is flat and often double-edged with a diamond cross-section and about in total length. Universal is a three-piece rhinoceros horn hilt with no guard, nearly identical to that of the jile or jambiya, though wood and later bakelite examples have been observed. The shotel was typically carried in a close fitting leather scabbard which was sometimes decorated with precious metals.[*]
History
After the restoration of
Atse Yekuno Amlak, the resurgent emperors began to organize their armies in a similar manners to the Aksumites, culminating in the reign of
Atse Amda Seyon I. Shotel wielders, known as
shotelai or
hanetay and organized in the Axurarat Shotelai, comprised one of the elite forces of Amda Seyon's Imperial host. Along with the Hareb Gonda and Korem cavalry, Keste Nihb archers, and Axuarat Axuarai lancers, they were said to be the forces that "flew through the air like the eagle and spun on the ground like the avalanche." Notable shotel techniques included slashing attacks that had devastating effects especially against mounted opponents. The shotel could be used to loop and rip a warrior off their horse. Classically, the shotel was employed in a dismounted state to hook the opponent by reaching around a shield or any other defensive implement or weapon.
[ The shotel and other Eritrean and northern Ethiopian swords are occasionally referred to collectively in Geez as han'e.
]
Due to increased trade with the west, over time the shotel began to be replaced in the southern Kingdom of Shewa and Shewan dominated Ethiopian Empire by swords fitted with European sabre blades known as Gurade or Gorade. In Amharas culture the generic word for sword, Seif (Amharic: ሰይፍ), is also applicable but mainly used to refer to a straight bladed, double edged sword. Traditional Shotel fencing incorporated much jumping and lunging. Typically, warriors in Northeast Africa wore circular shields strapped to their forearms with weapons carried on the same side as their dominant hand in order to be drawn while horseback. This left the shield hand free to steer Ethiopian horses. The Ethiopian riding style thus involved a unique approach characterized by single rein control, often without a bit, and mounting from the right side (unlike most others). Ethiopian curved swords were thus awkward to draw and ceremonial in nature. Like most other swords they were mainly used in place of spears or projectiles and historically served as a status symbol, being highly attractive to women.
“A great long Shotel with its silver ball,
Goes down with the women, and that’s all –
A first-rate sword with its silver knob,
Goes down with the women, that’s its job”
[Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Volume 12 - Royal United Service Institution, Jan 1869, Mitchell]
According to William Cornwallis Harris, the sword protruded from behind the wearer like a tail and was difficult to draw: "girded to the loins of every male subject in the kingdom (of Shewa) be his profession what it may." "Highly crescent shaped, it rather resembles a sickle than an implement of war - It serves equally at the banquet and in the field."
/ref> He continues, "the serf still appears in the raw fleece of the sheep. During the journey or the foray a cloak, composed of the prepared skin of the lion, the leopard, or the ocelot, is thrown over the shoulders of the better classes." Negus Sahle Selassie would pass on to his descendants (among them Menelik II and Haile Selassie) a sword made of gold.
Design
Its shape, similar to a large sickle, was effectively used to reach around an opponent's shield and stab them in vital areas such as the or . While closely resembling the Afar gile, the gile universally has two cutting edges, while the shotel's upper edge is often unsharpened and sometimes braced against the swordsman's shield for strength. The sword does commonly come sharp on both sides. Common beneath the hilt was a circular, silver or golden-colored pommel carved with a design said to be known as a "timbora" or a coin. Though rarer, surviving handles can be found decorated with rivets of steel and leather wraps. The scabbard more often than not had a slit atop the opening, making it easier to draw, which was traditionally done with the hand of the same side it was worn. Sheaths of various colors are in existence and regularly richly ornamented with engravings of braids, spirals, and other patterns. In circulation are those with mounts of brass, silver, and sometimes precious minerals not unlike the traditional Gasha (Amharic: ጋሻ) shields they were worn alongside, both of which were recorded as made with Morocco leather. The end of their sheaths were originally extremely curved, likely to stop them from slipping off of the wearers hip (closely resembling the Yemeni jambia) and were slipped through a thin leather belt. This was usually topped with a cross or, in older examples, a spherical decoration at the tip. While some had fullers and raised midribs, many swords flat sides were decorated with Amharic inscriptions extolling their quality, the virtue of their owner, or of a religious nature
The mid-18th century European visitor to Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, Remedius Prutky, often used the word shotel to describe a carving knife.[J.H. Arrowsmith-Brown (trans.), Prutky's Travels in Ethiopia and other Countries with notes by Richard Pankhurst (London: Hakluyt Society, 1991), pp. 77, 165.] In appearance it's similar to Armenian-style Yatagan sabres which feature a prominant curve and sickle swords of the Azande people native to central africa (although they aren't related and the "makraka" as they're known are similar to various throwing kinves and axes from that region such as the Mambele, Onzil, Sengese, & Trumbash), and less so to middle eastern scimitars.
In popular culture
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Age of Empires II features Shotel Warriors on Africa campaigns.
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe films of Black Panther (film), and features shotels being used by the Border Tribe.
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The XXXG-0SR Gundam Sandrock from the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing series is equipped with a pair of heat-radiating shotel
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Monster Hunter (18 variants of the long sword weapon)
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In Dark Souls, the player can purchase a shotel from Shiva of the East or acquire one from a particular corpse in Sen's Fortress. Also, the character Lautrec the Embraced uses two shotels in combat. True to the weapon's real-world history, it can damage an enemy even when they block with a shield. The shotel reappears in Dark Souls II and again in Dark Souls III, which also introduces the Carthus Shotel.
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Elden Ring features the Shotel, the Eclipse Shotel, and the Vulgar Militia Shotel which is fastened to a long shaft to function like a halberd.
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Assassin's Creed Origins' Rusted Blade and Shotel weapons
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Granblue Fantasy's imperial and silver shotel weapons
== Gallery ==
See also
External links
