Thread: Mahdist knife
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Old 11th June 2008, 11:41 PM   #7
Jim McDougall
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"...axes were popular among the Mahdist troops, and many were used in the butchery of Khartoum when the city fell"

"...some had elegant crescent shaped blades", further, "...the grips are normally wrapped in crocodile skin".

"Ten Years of Captivity in the Mahdis Camp"
F.R.Wingate, Cairo, 1892

A highly decorative example has its entire surface covered with elaborate acide etched 'thuluth' with additional brass calligraphic inlays.
Kendall, 2001
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