Dagger

Description

Object Label: Weapons As early as the Predynastic Period, Egyptian foot soldiers relied on fearsome battle-axes and sharp daggers to crush their opponents in hand-to-hand combat, and employed the bow and arrow from a distance. Originally there was no difference in design between the battle-axe and the woodworker’s axe; both featured a semicircular blade tied to a wooden handle by cords. In the Middle Kingdom, toolsmiths developed a more effective weapon that had a long blade with convex sides narrowing to a curved edge. Most daggers, which resembled short swords, had double-edged blades riveted to ivory or bone handles and reinforced by a vertical rib. The bow and arrow remained an Egyptian’s most effective weapon. (Unfortunately, the Brooklyn Museum does not have a complete example.) Archers shot from a stationary position or from the cab of a moving chariot as a skilled driver spurred on the horses. Reconstruction Caption: Dagger, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E.. Copper alloy, wood, metal, ivory, and leather, 2 1/4 × 5/8 × 11 3/8 in. (5.7 × 1.6 × 28.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 09.889.339. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)