Long knife or short sword with flared wooden handle decorated with silver flowers and a diamond shape, and with a decorative silver plate on the pommel. The sheath is of hide, with a hide belt and copper alloy buckle. [El.B 5/6/2007]

Collection type: Object
Description: Long knife or short sword with flared wooden handle decorated with silver flowers and a diamond shape, and with a decorative silver plate on the pommel. The sheath is of hide, with a hide belt and copper alloy buckle. [El.B 5/6/2007]
Long description: The tip of the sheath is mounted with silver and ending in a silver ball. Attached to the side of the sheath is a pocket of hide. [El.B 5/6/2007]
Geographical reference: Ethiopia
Africa > Eastern Africa > Ethiopia
Cultural groups: Afar
Person: Field collector Wilfred Patrick Thesiger; PRM source Wilfred Patrick Thesiger; PRM source Alex Maitland
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1998
Date collected: By 1998
Acquisition information: Donated: 1998
Materials and processes: Material Silver Metal, Material Wood Plant, Material Metal, Material Animal Hide Skin, Material Copper Alloy Metal, Process Decorated, Process Bound, Process Carved, Process Forged (Metal), Process Stitched
Dimensions: Width: max 60 mm at top of sheath, Length: max 526 mm total
Object numbers: Accession number: 1998.26.22.1 Accession number: 1998.26.22.2
Research and responses: For a brief account of the collections donated to the PRM by Wilfred Thiesiger, see 'An Incidental Collection: Objects Donated by Wilfred Thesiger to the Pitt Rivers Museum', by Jeremy Coote, in Wilfred Thesiger in Africa, edited by Christopher Morton and Philip N. Grover (London: Harper Press, 2010), pp. 116-26. [JC 21 12 2010]
Associated publications: Illustrated in colour (with 1998.26.21 and 1998.26.23) as figure 61 on page 123 of 'An Incidental Collection: Objects Donated by Wilfred Thesiger to the Pitt Rivers Museum', by Jeremy Coote, in Wilfred Thesiger in Africa, edited by Christopher Morton and Philip N. Grover (London: Harper Press, 2010), pp. 116-26. Caption (same page) reads: 'Fig. 61 Three Afar (Danakil) knives in leather sheaths with their belts wrapped around; largest 560 mm long.' [FC 16/06/2010; JC 21 12 2010] Illustrated in colour (with 1998.26.21 and 1998.26.23) on page 5 of Wilfred Thesiger in Africa: A Centenary Exhibition, by Christopher Morton and Philip Grover (Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 2010). Caption (same page) reads: 'Three Afar (Danakil) knives, with wooden handles and leather sheaths, and belts wrapped around. Afar men wore such knives on their waists, with leather things indicating how many men they had killed. Donated by Wilfred Thesiger to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1998. PRM 1998.26.21, 1998.26.22, 1998.26.23'. [JC 17 12 2010]

Search terms: Weapon, Clothing, Tool, Knife, Sword, Belt, Sheath

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