- Museum number
- Af1868,1230.18
- Description
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Spear; made of iron, wood, wire (brass).
- Production date
- 1800 - 1868
- Dimensions
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Height: 179 centimetres
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Width: 4.50 centimetres
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Depth: 3.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
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Part of a collection of material taken from the fortress of Emperor Tewedros II (reigned 1855-1868) at Maqdala during the Abyssinian Campaign (1867-1868). Tewodros had sought to bring the whole of Ethiopia under his control through military campaigns. During these conquests, he took books, holy relics and manuscripts from churches throughout Ethiopia, and particularly from Gondar, with the intention of establishing Maqdala as a seat of learning and research. By 1868, the treasury and church store included hundreds of manuscripts and many fine examples of liturgical objects and art including textiles, paintings, and metal work.
The British Expedition to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) 1867-1868 culminated in a military assault on Maqdala on 13 April 1868. Tewodros committed suicide, rather than be taken prisoner. Hundreds of his soldiers were killed and many thousands injured. The treasury, church and royal household were plundered by the British and Indian troops. Maqdala was destroyed by military order on 17 April 1868. Much of the plundered material was reassembled by an Army Prize Committee and sold at an auction of loot on the nearby Delanta Plain, 20 – 21 April 1868.
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See Collection File Af1868,1230.1-21
- Location
- Not on display
- Associated events
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Associated Event: Abyssinian Campaign 1867 - 1868
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Associated Event: Battle of Maqdala 13 Apr 1868
- Acquisition date
- 1868
- Acquisition notes
- Part of a collection of objects sent to the British Museum by the India Office on 28 December 1868. This donation was described as ‘cases of Abyssinian trophies’ see letter from Mr Peul to J Winter Jones, 28th Jan 1869 (British Museum Central Archive, Original Papers, vol 97 Dec 1868 – Feb 1869, no. 1160). A list of the objects: ‘List of Abyssinian relics forwarded to the British Museum, 28 Dec 1868’ from the Military Department of the India Office is included in Collection File Af1868,1230.1-21. On this list are ‘4 spears.’ There are 3 spears in the collection (Af1868,1230.16; Af1868,1230.17; Af1868,1230.18); 1 spear offered by the India Office was returned by the British Museum (British Museum Central Archive, Original Papers, vol 97 Dec 1868 – Feb 1869, no. 1278).
This donation came through Sir Stafford Henry Northcote (Secretary of State for India, 1867-1868) and he is named on the register. However, the Trustees Standing Committee Minutes record that these objects (‘arms, tents, cloths and other articles of native manufacture’) were ‘purchased in Abyssinia by Lord Napier of Magdala’ (British Museum Central Archive, Trustees Standing Committee Minutes, 9th January 1869, no. 11585 – 11586).
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af1868,1230.18
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: Af1973,Q.703 (previously registereed as)