Maul or Mall

Maul Or Mall

is an old name for a hammer or mallet, and stands in the Auth. Vers. for the Heb. מֵפַיוֹ (mephits', only occurs in Pr 25:18; but kindred is מִפֵּוֹ, mappets', "battle-axe," Jer 51:20; both from פּוּוֹ or נָפִוֹ, to break in pieces), a war-club, such as was anciently in common use, and even in the Middle Ages, the memory of which is still preserved in the modern mace as a sign of authority. "Probably such was that which is said to have suggested the name of Charles Martel. The mace is frequently mentioned in the accounts of the wars of the Europeans with Saracens, Turks, and other Orientals, and several kinds are still in use among the Bedouin Arabs of remoter parts (Burckhardt, Notes on Bedouins, 1:55). In their European wars the Turks were notorious for the use they made of the mace (Knollys, Hist. of the Turks)" (Smith). Various kinds of mace were used by the ancient Egyptians, either with or without a ball at the end to give weight to the blow, and generally with a guard at the handle. The curved club or throw-stick, the Arabian lissan or "tongue," is a very general Oriental weapon. Among the Australians, this implement is yet a formidable one, called the boomerang. Unmistakable traces of its use occur on the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. 1:365; Bonomi, Nineveh, p. 134-6). SEE ARMOR.