Skip Navigation

Asian Dagger

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Daggers such as this one, with two parallel ribs running down the blade, have been found throughout modern Israel. The design is undoubtedly Asian, probably Hyksos. How such a blade reached Thebes is not known; it may have been brought back as a souvenir by a Theban soldier who fought in the wars against the Hyksos.

CULTURE Syrian
MEDIUM Copper alloy, horn
  • Reportedly From: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1630–1539 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY late Dynasty 13 to Dynasty 17
    PERIOD Second Intermediate Period
    DIMENSIONS 9 5/16 x 3/4 in. (23.7 x 1.9 cm) Blade: 1 5/8 x 1/2 in. (4.1 x 1.3 cm) Handle: 1 3/4 x 2 7/8 in. (4.4 x 7.3 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.284E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Bronze dagger blade and part of a horn handle for a dagger. The blade has two large median ribs which are flanked by decorative incised lines. There are three rivet holes at the tang end, and, if there was an extension of the tang, there was possibly once a fourth rivet hole. The handle, with stock terminating in a crescent, is made in two halves riveted together. Condition: Blade has cu/ black patina. Tip missing: top rivet hole broken. Top shows glue for attachment to pommel.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Syrian. Asian Dagger, ca. 1630–1539 B.C.E. Copper alloy, horn, 9 5/16 x 3/4 in. (23.7 x 1.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.284E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.284E_NegA_glass_bw_SL4.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.284E_NegA_glass_bw_SL4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.