Dongola Dagger
Dongola Dagger
Nubian - Dangala
Dongola, Mahdist Sudan - Anglo- Egyptian Sudan (Dongola, Sudan)
Late 19th - Early 20th century (ca. 1890 - 1925)
Steel, horn, bone, brass, wood, fabric, metal alloy
Blade: 24,8cm
Hilt & Blade: 36,8cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: 37,8cm
Collection Date: 2025
Collection Number: 488
Ex. Oriental Arms: Haifa, Israel (2025)
A rare dagger from the Dongola region of Sudan along the Nile River. This style of knife was also carried throughout the region along the Nile cataracts into Khartoum as marked by similar examples. The curved double- edged steel blade has a medial ridge spanning the entirety of the blade's length. An engraved panel at the forte on one side having floral swirls. The opposite side has a panel with engraved Arabic script, roughly translating in English to, " In the name of God as God has willed".
The hilt is composed of alternating segments of horn and bone with metal alloy spacers ending in a brass pommel cap. The guard and pommel are horn with elongated tips that curve inward toward the central grip. The sheath of a wooden interior covered in a brown fabric with a metal alloy band having a small baldric loop. The steel chape is reminiscent of British chapes, influenced by British presence in both Egypt and Sudan at that time. Knives of this type are rare, and closely resemble similar daggers and short swords from the Dongola region extending into Eritrea by their form and composition. I would also not rule out the possibility that this dagger could have been produced in the capital city of Khartoum, as its form does not deviate too much throughout the upper and lower Nile regions where the flared pommels are prominent. This particular example is well made, having quality steel and crisp engravings.
[1] https://oriental-arms.com/product/rare-curved-dagger-from-east-africa-may-be-dongola/
[2] https://museoferritaglientiscarperia.it/exhibitions/?lang=en#1574248786818-37270a64-d6b0
[3] https://africanarms.com/gallery.html?curved-mahdist-dagger-41-5-cm
[4] http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?4-two-arab-dagger-ethiopia-somalia-kl-2
[5] http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?6-eritrea-curved-dagger-w-scab-38-cm
[6] http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?10-arab-dagger-ethiopia-somalia-blade-kl
[7] http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?6-eritrea-dagger-36-6-cm
[9] https://galleryrider.com/index.php/addenda/personal-collection/curved-dagger-sheath-eritrea-sudan
[10] https://galleryrider.com/index.php/addenda/personal-collection/dagger-sheath-eritrea-somalia