The seme (ol alem), or lion’s sword, is the constant sidearm of the Maasai man. It is a light short sword with a double-edged, leaf-shaped spatulate blade, often made from spring steel.

Steel can be defined as an iron-carbon alloy with a carbon content less than 2.06%. In practice, however, other elements are always present in non-negligible quantities, so to constitute a complex alloy.