Dagger with Layered Handle
Dunqulah (Dongola), Sudan
Iron, horn, copper, brass
Late 19th / early 20th century
This type of short sword, with a layered handle composed of bone and horn, originated from Dongola, on the banks of the Nile River in northern Sudan. Many examples date to the 19th century (Lord Egerton of Tatton, Indian and Oriental Armour, 1968, 2012).
Related examples were also collected during the Eritrea Mission organized by the Italian Ministry of Education in 1905-06. That mission described these daggers as “belonging to the ceremonial apparatus connected to the war” ("Blades of the Horn of Africa," Museum of Cutting Tools of Scarperia, 2016).
Other examples have been collected in Egypt.
25 in :: 63.5 cm
InventoryID #13-2512
Not For Sale
