{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"37231"},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"Gift of Amyas Naegele, Class of 1978"},"invno":{"label":"Object number","value":"2000.176.015"},"description":{"label":"Description","value":"Scalloped and scythe-shaped blade with decorative engraving, and wooden handle wrapped with leather and metal.Iron blades and other implements long predate European contact. Many parts of Africa have evidence of early iron mines as well as alluvial ore (iron ore found in river bottoms). Although most Africans did not have the ability to smelt iron at the very high temperatures necessary for removing iron from ore, it was possible to form a great range of objects. This sword type has been called an execution sword, though it was not used for decapitation, as some sources have suggested. Rather, centuries ago this style of knife was used for the execution of slaves or prisoners of war in a ceremony that accompanied the death of a prominent person. Later, animals took the place of the human victims. When and if such knives are seen today, they serve only as prestige objects.Suggested readings:Peter Westerdijk, African Metal Implements: Weapons, Tools, and Regalia. Greenvale, NY: Hillwood Art Gallery, Long Island Univeristy, 1984; and Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, Earth and Ore: 2500 Years of African Art in Terra-Cotta and Metal. Eurasburg: Edition Minerva Hermann Farnung, 1997."},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Metal, wood, leather"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"media":{"label":"Media","value":"2000.176.015_d0563_029"},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Status knife"},"classification":{"label":"Classifications","value":"Metalwork"},"primaryMedia":{"value":"https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/78304/full"},"culture":{"label":"Culture","value":"Ngombe (Democratic Republic of Congo)"},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"216825"},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"23 3/4 × 8 × 2 1/2 inches (60.3 × 20.3 × 6.4 cm)"}}]}