Blade from Battle-Axe
Brooklyn Museum photograph
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
Blade from Battle-Axe, ca. 1353–1329 B.C.. Bronze, 4 1/4 x 5 1/16 in. (10.8 x 12.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society, 27.957. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.27.957_print_negA_bw.jpg)
Title
Blade from Battle-Axe
Date
ca. 1353–1329 B.C.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom, Amarna Period
Geography
Place excavated: Tell el-Amarna, Egypt
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
4 1/4 x 5 1/16 in. (10.8 x 12.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Egypt Exploration Society
Accession Number
27.957
Rights
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.
Frequent Art Questions
Is there any scientific process to verify if weapons such as this have been used in battle?
Sure! Both visual and microscopic analysis make it possible to identify wear or use marks on the surface of the blade which suggest its use.So how many people would you estimate this thing murdered?Unfortunately, there is no scientific process to begin to approximate the number of people that "came into contact" with this weapon.Were there wars or battles taking place during this axe’s period?
I'm sure there were! Some of the conflicts taking place in Egypt around this time include Seti's military campaigns in Asia, Libya, and Nubia and attacks from Libyans after the Bronze Age collapse and subsequent collapse of the New Kingdom.
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