Elaborately Decorated Curved Dagger
Moor (Maures), Mauritania, Morocco, West Africa
Iron, wood, brass
Late 19th / early 20th century

The term Moor originates from the Latin Maurus, referring to the people of Mauritania in North Africa, specifically those – regardless of race – who speak a Hassaniya dialect. They are a large, Sunni Muslim ethnic group composed primarily of North African Arabs and Berbers. Today, they inhabit a broad area encompassing Mauritania, Morocco, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Gambia.

The Moors invaded the Iberian Peninsula during a power vacuum left by the Visigoths, leading to a complex history of conquest, coexistence, and conflict. Their reign of the Iberian Peninsula from 711 to 1492, known as Al-Andalus, was characterized by remarkable advancements in architecture, science, and culture, epitomized by structures like the Alhambra in Granada (Mercadal, Moor, 2024).

A closely-related example with a sheath can be found in the Pitt Rivers collection (1884.24.255.1), acquired in 1884:

21 in :: 53.5 cm

InventoryID #13-2848

Price on Request