Ceremonial Dagger of Ahmose I

Along with its sheath, this ceremonial dagger was a royal gift from king Ahmose to his mother Ahhotep, in whose burial it was discovered. The blade decorated with a typically Aegean technique but Egyptian iconography, bears the titulary of the king on one side and a hunting scene on the other side.

Being a gift for his mother Ahhotep, this dagger was inscribed on the two faces of the gold blade with the name and epithets of King Ahmose I.

The inscription ends in very fine decorative motifs: on one side a lion pursues a calf in a rocky landscape, followed by a row of four grasshoppers and the head of an animal. The other side shows a floral design crowned with a jackal’s head. This decoration in gold thread, like the hieroglyphs, is backed by a band of black enamel.

Egyptians hold in high esteem the two kings who unified their country: the Early dynastic period king Narmer of around 3100 BC, and Ahmose I who reunited a divided Egypt around 1550 BC. and ushered in the celebrated New Kingdom.

New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Ahmose I, ca. 1550-1524 BC. Made of gold, electrum, copper alloy and semi-precious stones. From the Tomb of Queen Ahhotep, Dra’ Abu el-Naga’, West Thebes.  Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 4666 CG 52658-9