African Spear, so-called assagai or assegai, with a wooden shaft and a symmetric, broad leaf-shaped metal tip. The spearhead is slightly ribbed and put into the shaft by means of a tang. Below the tip, at the shaft, there is a cuff from leather. The lower part of the shaft at first becomes thinner and re-thickens at the end.
The assagai comes from the southern Africa, presumably Namibia or South Africa. The spear is either part of the collection of weapons from Martin Fehl that came as a gift into the Gewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied Arts) Ulm in 1920 or from the collection of Ulrich Hößle, which the families Hößle and Hettich dedicated to the museum as a loan in 1923. Due to the missing designation and the missing details in the description of the objects in the inventory a distinct attribution is not possible.
The assagai was a type of spear that was especially widespread in South Africa; it was originally a javelin. This one probably was intended for stabbing because of its short shaft and the big, heavy blade. Under the Zulu king Shaka, the assagai was adjusted and refined during a military reform (1816 - 1828). Thus, the form of a short spear for stabbing in close combats emerged that the warriors carried in one hand to use the other hand for the shield.
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