Murle wrist knife
Accession Number:
1884.140.579 .1 .2
Country:
Sudan
Region:
[Southern Sudan]
Cultural Group:
Murle [Djibba]
Date Made:
Before 1858
Materials:
Iron Metal , Animal Hide Skin
Process:
Forged (Metal) , Hammered
Dimensions:
L = 110 mm, W = 80 mm, th 1.8 mm [RTS 9/3/2004].
Weight:
53.7 g (with sheath)
Other Owners:
Collected by John Petherick between 1853 and 1858, and shipped back to England in 1859. Acquired by Pitt Rivers at an auction of Petherick's material, held by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862, as part of lot 43 - see the Catalogue of
Field Collector:
John Petherick
PRM Source:
Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection
Acquired:
Found unentered 6th April 2004, but evidently part of Pitt Rivers' collection by 1868 and part of founding collection 1884.
Collected Date:
1853 - 1858
Description:
Wrist knife made from a rectangular piece of sheet iron that has been hammered flat and then bent into a semi circle with the tapering, rounded ends not touching and some 25 mm apart.
The object is oval in plan view.
The inside edge is curved to fit over the wrist; this is thicker than the outer face which thins to a sharp cutting edge, giving the object a triangular section.
A narrow strip of light yellowish brown hide (Pantone 465C), numbered 1884.78.93.2, has been doubled over and fitted over the outer blade.
It has no terminal clips to hold it in place, and there is no corresponding inner sheath around the inside edge to protect the wrist, as is often seen on this type of object.
The object is essentially complete, unless there are some sheath elements now missing; there is a small nick in the blade near one end, and one end of the hide cover no longer fits comfortably in place.
The iron is in good condition, and currently has a silvery gray appearance (Pantone 420C).
Length (including sheath) 110 mm, width (including sheath) 80 mm, length across inside edge 59 mm; thickness of body on inside edge 1.8 mm and the thickness of the outer sheath is 5.4 mm.
The knife and sheath weigh 53.7 grams.
Collected by John Petherick from the ‘Djibba’ of the Southern Sudan between 1853 and 1858, and shipped back to England in 1859. Petherick appears to have encountered the Djibba during his first trading expedition in 1853, when he travelled up the Sobat River. However as he established a trading camp amongst the Dinka in this region, subsequent contact with the Djibba through his agents seems likely, and material could well have been collected after this date. As this object was published in 1861 (see below), it must belong with this first collection of material, which was shipped back to England in 1859.
Acquired by Pitt Rivers at an auction of Petherick's material, held by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862, as part of lot 43 - see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan, p. 5. "[Lot 43]. A warrior’s sharp edged iron bracelet (Djibba) - page 360 [in Petherick's 1861 book], and fig. 8 [In JRUSI IV no. 13], 8 others various (Dinka and Shillook), and pair elephant anklets)". It next appears in Wood's 1868 publication, where it is said to part of Pitt Rivers' collection. Pitt Rivers subsequently sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, as part of the first batch of objects sent there, probably in 1874. This object was later displayed in the South Kensington Museum, and transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
Petherick locates the Djibba somewhere along the Sobat River or the tributaries running into it from the east, which suggests a location in either the administrative districts of either Upper Nile or Jonglei, or across the border into modern Ethiopia (J. Petherick, 1861, Egypt, the Sudan and Central Africa, Map; note that the geographical coordinates given for this group in his 1860 article seem to be inaccurate). Ajibba is the Anuak name for this group, who are also known as the Murle (B.A. Lewis 1972, The Murle , 2).
Wrist knives of this type have a widespread distribution, and are found amongst several groups including the Larim, Bari, Murle, Latuka, Acholi, Suk and Turkana. The attribution of this particular example is therefore not clear, particularly as museum records associated it with Dinka, Shilluk or Bongo - although none of these groups seem to make particular use of this weapon. However these attributions are applied to a mixed group of objects and may not have been accurate. It would appear that Petherick, the original owner of this object, believed that it came from the Djibba. It seems to match an example illustrated by him in his 1861 paper, "On the Arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa, Bordering on the White Nile", Journal of the Royal United Service Institution IV no. 13, fig. 8, which he describes on p. 173 as a Djibba weapon that is worn on each wrist, covered by a leather strip which is removed when engaging with an opponent. The same object is illustrated again by J.G. Wood in his 1868 The Natural History of Man, Volume I, p. 520 number 4. Wood, who states that this knife is part of the collection of Colonel Lane Fox [= Pitt Rivers], also attributes it to the Djibba. He describes its use in more detail: 'Whenever the warrior comes to close quarters, he strips of the leathern sheath, and, rushing in upon his adversary, strikes at the face with the sharp edge, or flinging his left arm round him, cuts his naked body almost into pieces with rapid strokes of this terrible weapon'. Logan also mentions this group making use of circular wrist knives (M.H. Logan 1918, "The Beirs", Sudan Notes and Records 1 , 247).
This object is currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 75A, number 12.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Collected by John Petherick from the ‘Djibba’ of the Southern Sudan between 1853 and 1858, and shipped back to England in 1859. Petherick appears to have encountered the Djibba during his first trading expedition in 1853, when he travelled up the Sobat River. However as he established a trading camp amongst the Dinka in this region, subsequent contact with the Djibba through his agents seems likely, and material could well have been collected after this date. As this object was published in 1861 (see below), it must belong with this first collection of material, which was shipped back to England in 1859.
Acquired by Pitt Rivers at an auction of Petherick's material, held by Mr Bullock of High Holborn, London, on 27th June 1862, as part of lot 43 - see the Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M. Consul, Khartoum, Soudan, p. 5. "[Lot 43]. A warrior’s sharp edged iron bracelet (Djibba) - page 360 [in Petherick's 1861 book], and fig. 8 [In JRUSI IV no. 13], 8 others various (Dinka and Shillook), and pair elephant anklets)". It next appears in Wood's 1868 publication, where it is said to part of Pitt Rivers' collection. Pitt Rivers subsequently sent this object to Bethnal Green Museum for display, as part of the first batch of objects sent there, probably in 1874. This object was later displayed in the South Kensington Museum, and transferred from there to become part of the founding collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1884.
Petherick locates the Djibba somewhere along the Sobat River or the tributaries running into it from the east, which suggests a location in either the administrative districts of either Upper Nile or Jonglei, or across the border into modern Ethiopia (J. Petherick, 1861, Egypt, the Sudan and Central Africa, Map; note that the geographical coordinates given for this group in his 1860 article seem to be inaccurate). Ajibba is the Anuak name for this group, who are also known as the Murle (B.A. Lewis 1972, The Murle , 2).
Wrist knives of this type have a widespread distribution, and are found amongst several groups including the Larim, Bari, Murle, Latuka, Acholi, Suk and Turkana. The attribution of this particular example is therefore not clear, particularly as museum records associated it with Dinka, Shilluk or Bongo - although none of these groups seem to make particular use of this weapon. However these attributions are applied to a mixed group of objects and may not have been accurate. It would appear that Petherick, the original owner of this object, believed that it came from the Djibba. It seems to match an example illustrated by him in his 1861 paper, "On the Arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa, Bordering on the White Nile", Journal of the Royal United Service Institution IV no. 13, fig. 8, which he describes on p. 173 as a Djibba weapon that is worn on each wrist, covered by a leather strip which is removed when engaging with an opponent. The same object is illustrated again by J.G. Wood in his 1868 The Natural History of Man, Volume I, p. 520 number 4. Wood, who states that this knife is part of the collection of Colonel Lane Fox [= Pitt Rivers], also attributes it to the Djibba. He describes its use in more detail: 'Whenever the warrior comes to close quarters, he strips of the leathern sheath, and, rushing in upon his adversary, strikes at the face with the sharp edge, or flinging his left arm round him, cuts his naked body almost into pieces with rapid strokes of this terrible weapon'. Logan also mentions this group making use of circular wrist knives (M.H. Logan 1918, "The Beirs", Sudan Notes and Records 1 , 247).
This object is currently on display in the Upper Gallery, case 75A, number 12.
Rachael Sparks 30/9/2005.
Primary Documentation:
Accession book VIII entry
[p.
45] - AFRICA, SUDAN.
Iron wrist knife [.1] with a narrow hide sheath fitted around its sharp outer edge [.2].
Found unentered, on display in case U.75.A.
The object is marked "CENTRAL AFRICA, PETHERICK 1619", and appears to be the "Warrior's sharp edged iron bracelet, DJIBBA tribe" mentioned in the group of objects listed under Black Book 1619.
See also Delivery Cat.
II p.
306.
Collected by John Petherick between 1853-8 or 1861-5.
P.R.
106/1619.
RTS 6/4/2004.
Black book entry [p. 67] - 1619. Bracelets (12), iron. Dinka & Schillook tribes, C. Africa. One a warrior's sharp edged iron bracelet. Djibba tribe, Africa [= this example, RTS 1/4/2004]. p. 110. [insert] 1884.78.93, 94, 95; 1884.82.23-28, 34 + 1884.82.43, 44 [end insert].
Added Black book entry [p. 67a] - Iron and bronze penannular knob ended bracelets Indian in form are found in Africa having been made and introduced for trade purposes by Birmingham firms.
Delivery Catalogue II entry [p. 300] - Personal Ornaments of various Nations [p. 306] 12 iron bracelets (Central Africa), 1619, Case 74, 345.
Written on object - CENTRAL AFRICA, PETHERICK 1619 [black ink; RTS 6/4/2004].
Black book entry [p. 67] - 1619. Bracelets (12), iron. Dinka & Schillook tribes, C. Africa. One a warrior's sharp edged iron bracelet. Djibba tribe, Africa [= this example, RTS 1/4/2004]. p. 110. [insert] 1884.78.93, 94, 95; 1884.82.23-28, 34 + 1884.82.43, 44 [end insert].
Added Black book entry [p. 67a] - Iron and bronze penannular knob ended bracelets Indian in form are found in Africa having been made and introduced for trade purposes by Birmingham firms.
Delivery Catalogue II entry [p. 300] - Personal Ornaments of various Nations [p. 306] 12 iron bracelets (Central Africa), 1619, Case 74, 345.
Written on object - CENTRAL AFRICA, PETHERICK 1619 [black ink; RTS 6/4/2004].
Display History:
The object was displayed in the Bethnal Green and South Kensington Museums (V&A).
[AP]
Publication History:
J.
Petherick, 1861, "On the Arms of the Arab and Negro Tribes of Central Africa, Bordering on the White Nile", Journal of the Royal United Service Institution IV no.
13, fig.
8, p.
173.
The original for this illustration may be found in Petherick's unpublished sketchbook (Wellcome Library 5789, p.
21). Catalogue of the very interesting collection of arms and implements of war, husbandry, and the chase, and articles of costume and domestic use, procured during several expeditions up the White Nile, Bahr-il-Gazal, and among the various tribes of the country, to the cannibal Neam Nam territory on the Equator, by John Petherick, Esq., H.M.
Consul, Khartoum, Soudan, p.
5 "[Lot 43].
A warrior’s sharp edged iron bracelet (Djibba) - page 360 [in Petherick's 1861 book], and fig.
8 [In JRUSI IV no.
13]". J.G.
Wood, 1868, The Natural History of Man, Volume I, p.
520 number 4.
