Shotel

The shotel is a sword of the Ethiopian and wider Horn of Africa military tradition, distinguished by a deep, sickle-like curve along its double-edged blade, a shape associated with the medieval Abyssinian empire and its successor Ethiopian kingdoms. Its pronounced curve was designed to let a skilled wielder swing the blade around the rim of an opponent's shield to strike at the body behind it, a tactic that made the shotel especially effective against shield-carrying infantry of the kind common in the region's warfare, though its unusual shape also made it a demanding and specialized weapon requiring particular training rather than a general-issue sidearm. Ethiopian cavalry and infantry officers carried the shotel as both a practical weapon and a mark of martial status into the modern era, and it remains a recognized symbol of Ethiopian military heritage.