S'boula (Jiboula)
S'boula (Jiboula)
Berber - Arab
Kingdom of Morocco - Beylik of Tunis, Ottoman Empire (Tunisia)
Last half of the 19th century
Steel, horn, brass
Blade: 52,1cm
Hilt & Blade: 64,1cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2021
Collection Number: 154
Ex. Rick Stroud (RSWORD): Raleigh, North Carolina, USA (2021)
A Berber North African sword of Maghreb origin known as a s'boula or jiboula. They are presumably Morrocan in construction and decoration, but many examples have been associated with Tunis, specifically purchased during the Great Exhibition of 1851, now found in the Royal Armouries.
The straight, single- edged steel blade is repurposed from a sword, possibly of European origin. A narrow fuller spans along the spine. Below, a hollow ground fuller in the center that tapers to a sharp needle point tip. Locally stamped engravings of "I" and "S" on each side patterned in a repeated series. On the rear side side, a museum accession number is marked in red near the forte with the numbers "30.540."
Bovine horn "I" shaped hilt engraved with linear design the front side, plain on the reverse. The upper and lower portion of the hilt is covered in brass sheet with stippled designs. Missing its sheath. A fighting example type with a flexible, well- made blade.
The last photograph shows a comparison to an example in Eric Claude’s, “The Small Catalog of Moroccan and Algerian Edged Weapons”.
[1] Richardson, Thom. 2018. “Islamic Arms and Armour”. Page 70.
[2] Claude, Eric. 2020. “The Small Catalog of Moroccan and Algerian Edged Weapons”. Page 99.
[3] https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/576656
[4] https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/458076
[5] https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-52019.html
[6] https://collections.royalarmouries.org/object/rac-object-1654.html
[7] http://www.oriental-arms.co.il/photos.php?id=2115
[8] http://www.oriental-arms.co.il/item.php?id=7180
[10] https://africanarms.com/gallery?afedali-musket-and-sboula-from-sous-valley?straight-sboula-66-cm