Execution knife 'ngulu' - Ngombe - DR Congo

Ancient execution knife “ngulu” of the Ngombe
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Total length: 67 cm
Period: late 19th century
Materials: wrought iron, wood, wire
Provenance: from a former Belgian private collection

The ngulu sickle blade (also called Ngolo, Ngwolo, M'Bolo, Gulu, Ntsaka, Bwakoya or Mbeli na Banzi) is often, wrongly, described in the West as an “execution knife.”
Although many accounts evoke the use of these blades to execute animals and humans, these stories seem more to reflect the Western desire to portray the savagery of primitive Africa (thus reflecting the spirit of the 19th and early 20th centuries) than to be true.

Made by the Ngombe (“people of the forest”), the ngulu is an asymmetrical iron blade richly decorated, with an ornate wooden handle, of exceptional beauty and richness. Gosseau states that these blades were symbols of prestige, ceremonial dance instruments, and precious objects serving as a medium of exchange.

It is interesting to note that Gosseau describes in detail the engraving process of these blades: “The engravings are made by striking the heated blade with a pointed hammer and another hammer. On the edge, a fine line – in fact a succession of short strokes engraved on the cold blade with the help of a pointed metal tool – runs along its entire length” (Gosseau, Tribal Arms Monographs, vol. 1, no. 2, 1997).

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