Sudanese spears of Mahdist Period 1881-1899

[Tim Simmons]

Originally Posted by Edster

Apparently, every afternoon, certainly "frequently", the Khalifa held a big parade-like affair on a big field in Omdurman to whip up the faithful. Likely, your spear blade could have been used as a standard along with the flags, troops and drummers to keep the festivities going. It's a little small for battle, even for small units where the flags and mounted amirs provided directions. Yet religious figures could have hoisted it instead of a sword. Of course all of this is just a guess.

Not sure about being too small for battle. The blade alone is 30 inches long and the spine starts at 1/2 inch thick.