Sword (Kampilan)

Sword ("kampilan") made of gold-inlaid steel with ivory hilt; blade engraved on one side with the name of the maker, Isma‘il, and the "shahada" (Muslim profession of faith) and on the other side with the Arabic names of the four archangels: Jibril (Gabriel, angel of revelation), Mika’il (Michael, angel of fertility and rain), Israfil (Raphael, announcer of the end of time), and Azra’il (Azrael, angel of death); ivory hilt features a stylised figure (Jawa demam), possibly the legendary Garuda, a part-human, part-eagle figure from Southeast Asia’s ancient past.

Share this

  

Images

Map    British Museum

Date

1800s-1920s (probably)

Materials

steel ivory gold
Technique
engraved
inlaid

Physical Dimensions

Length: 101 centimetres
Weight: 1.30 kilograms
Width: 16 centimetres (hilt)
Depth: 4.50 centimetres

Provenance

Donated by: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine

Acquisition Date

1954

Short description

Inscription type: inscription
Inscription position: on blade (both sides)
Inscription language: Arabic and Malay
Inscription script: Arabic
Inscription translation: Side 1: Made by Isma'il; There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is Allah's Messenger...He Side 2: (Jibrail) Gabriel, (Mikhail) Michael, (Israfil) Raphael/Uriel, (Isra'il) Azrael
Inscription note: Lists the maker and the shahada on one side. Lists the four archangels on the other side.

Curator's comments

The hilt is made of ivory, which is highly unusual according to Robert Hales. Usually they are made of wood. An inscription is also extremely unusual.
The hair is missing from the hilt.

Description
Surface clean of hilt with museum vacuum and brush. Removal of additional dirt and dust with deionised water on cotton swabs.

The corrosion on the blade was mechanically cleaned with a scapel under magnification, the surface of the blade was then cleaned with Acetone applied with cotton swabs. The white spots of paint were also removed with Acetone. The surface of the metal has been pitted by the corrosion.

Related Object

Compare with https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_As1925-1208-25

Display status

On display (G43/dc4)

Official Website

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_As1954-07-194

Collection

British Museum

Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function mh_identifier() in /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/themes/curatescape/items/show-template-default.php:82 Stack trace: #0 /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/themes/curatescape/items/show.php(14): include() #1 /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/application/libraries/Omeka/View.php(114): include('/home/philippi/...') #2 /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/application/libraries/Zend/View/Abstract.php(888): Omeka_View->_run('/home/philippi/...') #3 /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Action/Helper/ViewRenderer.php(912): Zend_View_Abstract->render(NULL) #4 /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Action/Helper/ViewRenderer.php(933): Zend_Controller_Action_Helper_ViewRenderer->renderScript('items/show.php', NULL) #5 /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/application/libraries/Zend/Controller/Action/Helper/ViewRenderer.php(972): Zend_Controller_Action_Helper_Vi in /home/philippi/public_html/mapping-dev-43/themes/curatescape/items/show-template-default.php on line 82