onzil
An onzil (or osele or musele) is a throwing knife of ethnic groups from eastern Gabon (Kota, Fang, Mbété). • Illustration — Onzil from eastern Gabon
onzil

Bougnat87 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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An onzil (or osele or musele) is a throwing knife of ethnic groups from eastern Gabon (Kota, Fang, Mbété). • Illustration — Onzil from eastern Gabon
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wikidata · Q97388745 · wikipedia · Onzil
In this article
Uses
Uses
Looking like an axe, the onzil has a calao-shaped blade. Its handle, often made of wood, is covered with copper wire, iron or brass. Sometimes handles are made of ivory. The onzil served as sacrificial weapons or for war. The Kotas called them osele or musele, and the Fang called them onzil. Early forms of this style knife, associated with the Fang people, had shorter straight handles. Kota people are neighbors of the Fang and likely from them adopted this style of knife.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Classical onzil • Illustration — Rare fish shaped onzil
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Onzil”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q97388745: onzil
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Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Felix 1991, S. 13.
- 2.Wurfeisen. 20. 771. 772. 20007708149.
- 3.Richard Francis Burton: The Book of the Sword. 1883, S. 36.
- 4.Hunga Munga. Pitt Rivers Museum
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- 6.Felix 1991, S. 17–20.
- 7.Christopher Ehret: The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. James Currey Publishers, 2002, ISBN 0-85255-475-3, S. 340.
- 8.Spring 1993, S. 68.
- 9.Spring 1993, S. 79.
- 10.Robert Joost Willink: Stages in Civilisation: Dutch Museums in Quest of West Central African Collections (1856–1889). CNWS Publications, 2007, ISBN 90-5789-113-1, S. 103.
- 11.Felix 1991, S. 18.
- 12.Spring 1993, S. 68–67.
- 13.Felix 1991, S. 9.
- 14.Felix 1991, S. 6 und nach Westerdijk 1988.
- 15.Felix 1991, S. 7.
- 16.Westerdijk 2006, S. 35.
- 17.Felix 1991, S. 29.
- 18.Westerdijk 2006, S. 29.
- 19.Felix 1991, S. 15.
- 20.Spring 1993, S. 82.
- 21.Felix 1991, S. 31.
- 22.Spring 1993, S. 73.
- 23.Westerdijk 2006, S. 36–37.
- 24.Westerdijk 2006, 33–35.
- 25.Felix 1991, S. 32.
- 26.Johanna Agthe: Waffen aus Zentral-Afrika, S. 22.
- 27.Felix 1991, S. 32–34.
- 28.Felix 1991, S. 34.
- 29.Westerdijk 2006, S. 39.
- 30.Spring 1993, S. 78.
- 31.Felix 1991, S. 35.
- 32.Felix 1991, S. 36.
- 33.Schurtz 1889 S. 18.
- 34.Christopher Spring: Swords and hilt weapons, 1989, ISBN 1-56619-249-8, S. 217.
- 35.Felix 1991, S. 39.
- 36.Westerdijk 2006, S. 39–40.
- 37.Felix 1991, S. 38.
- 38.Spring 1993, S. 82–83.
- 39.Westerdijk 2006, S. 41.
- 40.Spring 1993, S. 76.
- 41.Spring 1993, S. 72.
- 42.Paul Germann: Afrikanische Wurfeisen und Wurfhölzer im Völkerkundemuseum zu Leipzig, 1918/21(1922), S. 47.
- 43.Westerdijk 2006, S. 33.
- 44.Westerdijk 2006, S. 32–33.
- 45.Spring 1993, S. 71.
- 46.Spring 1993, S. 69.
- 47.Spring 1993, S. 70.
- 48.Felix 1991, S. 43.
- 49.Spring 1993, S. 71–73.
- 50.Norman Hurst: Ngola: the weapon as authority, identity, and ritual object in Sub-Saharan Africa. Verlag Hurst Gallery, 1997, ISBN 0-9628074-6-X, S. 14.
- 51.Spring 1993, S. 27.
- 52.Manfred A. Zirngibl, Alexander Kubetz: panga na visu. Kurzwaffen, geschmiedete Kultgegenstände und Schilde aus Afrika. HePeLo-Verlag, Riedlhütte 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811254-2-9., Abbildung 133, S. 282.
- 53.Felix 1991, S. 67.
- 54.Spring 1993, S. 74.
- 55.Spring 1993, S. 74–76.
- 56.Zungan dowi. Pitt Rivers Museum
- 57.Rex S. O’Fahey: The Darfur Sultanate: A History. Columbia University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-231-70038-2, S. 93, books.google.de
- 58.Spring 1993, S. 76–78.
- 59.Felix 1991, S. 89.
- 60.Spring 1993, S. 78–79.
- 61.Felix 1991, S. 175.
- 62.Spring 1993, S. 79–82.
- 63.Westerdijk 2006, S. 80–81.
- 64.Felix 1991, S. 93, 97, 109.
- 65.Westerdijk 1988, S. 244.
- 66.Spring 1993, S. 77–78.
- 67.Felix 1991, S. 123, 133, 169.
- 68.Westerdijk 2006, S. 46, 108.
- 69.Manfred A. Zirngibl, Alexander Kubetz: panga na visu. Kurzwaffen, geschmiedete Kultgegenstände und Schilde aus Afrika. HePeLo-Verlag, Riedlhütte 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811254-2-9., Abbildungen 187, 188, S. 91, 287.
- 70.Felix 1991, S. 187.
- 71.Manfred A. Zirngibl, Alexander Kubetz: panga na visu. Kurzwaffen, geschmiedete Kultgegenstände und Schilde aus Afrika. HePeLo-Verlag, Riedlhütte 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811254-2-9, S. 288.
- 72.Higgins Armory Museum
- 73.The Realm of the Dark Blade: Flying African Blades Of DOOM!. 20131103121941.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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