Where is this knife from?

Who would have used it?

When do you think it was made?

Answers:

Where is this knife from?

This is a type of barong, a heavy-bladed knife or sword from the Philippines. The blade is thick metal and the hilt is carved from wood and tied with rings of braided lacquered fibers. While the barong sometimes comes equipped with a scabbard, this one does not have one.

Who would have used it?

Barongs have been used by certain Muslim Filipino ethnic groups, and this one specifically came from the Moro people of Mindanao, the second-largest island of the Philippines.

When do you think it was made?

Unfortunately the only information we possess is that this barong was donated to the Karshner Center in 1934, so it was made sometime before that. If you guessed that it pre-dates World War II, good job!

For more information, visit:

• This artifact in the Karshner Digital Collections
• Artifact Worksheets you can use in your classroom or for homeschool
• Philippine-history.org
• Knife (Barong) with Sheath [The MET]
• Moro Edged Weapons

Questions? Comments? Email us!