A Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

  • Rare Darfur Arm Dagger

A Rare Darfur Arm Dagger
Fur People
Sultanate of Darfur (Sudan)
Late 19th century (ca. 1870s - 1880s)
Steel, wood, crocodile skin, leather
Blade: 35,6cm
Hilt & Blade: 47,6cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: 47,6cm
Collection Date: 2022
Collection Number: 331

Ex. Oriental Arms: Haifa, Israel (2022) (https://oriental-arms.com/product/rare-long-dagger-from-darfur-south-sudan/)

A rare type of Sudanese arm dagger associated with the Darfur region of Sudan. The triangular steel blade is double- edged with fine incised geometric and linear engravings. The center is rhomboid shaped, composed of a raised medial ridge.

The hilt is carved from a single piece of hard wood in turned fashion with a circular pommel. The sheath is tooled leather and crocodile skin. Missing its arm loop.
These Darfur daggers are on the rarer side to come across, this one complete with its original sheath. The more fine examples are of the same shape but are composed of rhinoceros horn carved hilts. Most examples collected tend to be from the late 19th century, specifically the 1870s through the 1880s. The last photo shows an almost an identical dagger in a collection from Darfur of Dr. Wilhelm Junker's Travels in Africa 1875 - 1886.