Battle-Axe with Handle

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: Battle-Axe with Handle, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E.. Bronze, wood, animal hide, plant material, Blade: 3 15/16 × 5 5/16 × 3/8 in. (10 × 13.5 × 1 cm) Handle: 20 3/16 × 3 1/16 × 1 9/16 in. (51.3 × 7.8 × 4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.282Ea-b. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)