Ngulu Executioner's Sword
iron blade with a wood and leather hilt, mounted
length: approx. 76 cm
Bantu peoples (Ngombe, Ngala, et al.)
Congo Basin, Subsaharan Africa
19th-early 20th century
provenance: collected in Togo by Jack Daulton
A power symbol, this type of sword, known as a Ngulu, is sometimes referred to as an "executioner's sword" or as a "sacrifice sword," as it was, in former times, used for beheadings. In the 20th century, after beheadings had been prohibited by the colonial authorities, the sword took on a more ceremonial role, being used in ritual dances culminating in the decapitation of a goat. For a discussion of this type of sword, see Werner Fischer and Manfred A. Zirngibl, Afrikanische Waffen [African Weapons] (Passau, Germany: Prinz-Verlag, 1978).
