Gordon's School
Item Set
Title
Gordon's School
Items
-
Two pages of Arabic script
Two pages of Arabic script, contents to be confirmed by translation, among Gordon-related artefacts in box labelled “Sir R.J. Slatin: Souvenirs of Major General C.G. Gordon”. [FN/ON/FHM 2019] -
MAHDI'S TOMB
A pen and ink monochromatic sketch by Chris Power, purporting to show the tomb of the Mahdī in Omdurman before its destruction in 1898. There are figures seated to the left of the tomb, also there is a figure in the right corner who is fetching water from a well and a figure in the foreground is carryinga sheild and three spears. It is unclear how the artist could have been in a position to make this sketch, unless it is a reconstruction from a visit subsequent to the tomb’s demolition. Mounted in a thin black frame. [FN/ON/FHM 2019] -
Curved dagger and black leather scabbard
Dagger carried by the Anṣār (الأنصار), with double-edged curved blade in black leather scabbard with a one-piece waisted wooden handguard and grip. The blade has a rusting medial rib. There are no decorative markings anywhere on the item, but the hand grip seems to have been carved in some form of decorative way, possibly with an Arabic inscription on the hilt. [FN/ON/FHM 2019] -
A currency note issued by Gordon during the siege of Khartoum
A currency note issued by Gordon during the siege of Khartoum, 1884-5, bearing his signature. At Gordon’s instructions, the Khartoum mint printed small bank notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 2,500 and 5,000 piastres (100 to the Egyptian pound), usually bearing the date of issue (mainly 25 April and 1 August 1884). The central, hand-written inscription on each note reads: ‘This amount is approved and is to be paid from the Treasury of Khartoum or of Egypt six months from the date of issue - Gordon Pasha’. The note is endorsed with Gordon’s signature and his personal stamp (غوردون) in Arabic. Wooden frame, glazed. Reverse has wood and paper backing. Reverse has printed label which reads "Presented by Mrs H.M.Squires, July 1964." [FN/ON 14.8.19, FHM 2019] -
Currency note issued by Gordon during the siege of Khartoum
A currency note issued by Gordon during the siege of Khartoum, 1884-5, bearing his signature, alongside a translation of the Arabic. At Gordon’s instructions, the Khartoum mint printed small bank notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 2,500 and 5,000 piastres (100 to the Egyptian pound), many bearing this date of issue, 25 April 1884. The central, hand-written inscription on each note reads: ‘This amount is approved and is to be paid from the Treasury of Khartoum or of Egypt six months from the date of issue - Ghūrdūn Bāshā’. The note is endorsed with Gordon’s signature and his personal stamp in Arabic. Framed and glazed, incorrectly described by catalogue as 'post-Omdurman'. Wooden frame, gold gild. Arabic with English translation. Signed by Gordon on 25th April 1884. [FN/ON 14.8.18, FHM 2019] -
Tambūra
Stringed tambūra made from wood and leather. Long wooden neck curves upwards from the base of the instrument, which is a hollow bowl shape. Base of the bowl is covered in leather, which is stitched together and is decorative in effect. [FN/ON/FHM 2019] -
Necklace
Tanned red leather strap woven through three leather decorative pendants in the centre (4cm x 3.5cm); rectangular in shape. Central pendant is black and the other two either side are red. All of these pendants have black crosses marked across front (possibly by method using heat). [FN/ON/FHM 2019] -
Anṣār (الأنصار) Banner
Banner carried by anṣār (الأنصار) in battle. Fine imported fabric in a variety of patterns sewn together in strips to make up larger rectangle, with border of rough local cotton. The Arabic script reads: yā allah yā raḥmān yā raḥīm yā ḥayy yā qayūm yā ḍhi’l-jalāl wa’l-ikrām lā illah ill’allah muḥammad rasūl allah muḥammad al-mahdī khalīfat rasūl allah Oh Allah, O the compassionate, O the merciful | O ever-living, O everlasting, O Lord of Majesty and Generosity There is no god but Allah [and] Muḥammad is the Prophet of Allah Muḥammad the Mahdī is the successor of the Prophet of Allah -
Anṣār (الأنصار) Banner
Banner carried by anṣār (الأنصار) in battle. White background of rough local cotton with script laid out on four regular lines in neat appliqued script in red and blue. The Arabic script reads: yā allah yā raḥmān yā raḥīm yā ḥayy yā qayūm yā ḍhi’l-jalāl wa’l-ikrām lā illah ill’allah muḥammad rasūl allah muḥammad al-mahdī khalīfat rasūl allah Oh Allah, O the compassionate, O the merciful O ever-living, O everlasting, O Lord of Majesty and Generosity There is no god but Allah [and] Muḥammad is the Prophet of Allah Muḥammad the Mahdī is the successor of the Prophet of Allah [FN/ON/FHM 2019] -
Facsimile of a Map Drawn by General C.G. Gordon, R.E at Khartum, March 17. 1874 of his Route from Suakin to Berber and Khartum
Facsimile of a hand-drawn map by then Col. Gordon, illustrating the fastest route from Suakin on the Red Sea to Berber on the Nile and thence south to Khartoum. Gordon was an expert draftsman and accomplished engineer as well as a tireless traveller: throughout his career, he drew precise and carefully annotated charts of his journeys. This map was drawn by Gordon in March 1874 as he travelled to take up the position of Governor of Equatoria, at the behest of Khedive Ismāʿīl of Egypt. The map depicts a track snaking through the arid Red Sea hills, covered by Gordon’s party in a brisk journey of less than a fortnight: eight days to Berber and a further four by river to Khartoum. Gordon calculated the route at 288 miles, though later assessments cut up to 40 miles off that figure. The map was first published by C.P. Stone in an academic journal (Science 5/114 (1885), p. 290) in the aftermath of Gordon’s death in Khartoum. Made available to the wider public by Edward Stanford of Covent Garden, it played an important part in the debate over the earlier decision by Lord Wolseley to reject this far shorter Suakin-Berber route as the preferred option for the failed Gordon Relief Expedition of 1884-5. [FN/ON 14.8.19, FHM 2019] -
Anṣār (الأنصار) banner
Banner carried by Anṣār (الأنصار) soldier and described in current interpretation as having been “picked up after the enemy’s charge at Abu Klea”. (This battle, at Abū-Ṭulayḥ on the Gordon Relief Expedition’s route across the Bayūḍa Desert between Kūrtī and al-Matamma, took place on 17 January 1885 and claimed more than a thousand anṣār lives.) The original fabric square is of a very high quality, possibly silk, and was imported, perhaps as a tablecloth or decoration. The Arabic script – appliqued in dark blue cotton in a barely literate style – represents the most basic form of the anṣār declaration of loyalty. The Arabic script reads: lā illah ill’allah muḥammad rasūl allah muḥammad mahdī allah There is no god but Allah Muḥammad is the Prophet of Allah Muḥammad is the Mahdī of Allah There is also a line of finely appliqued Arabic text on the reverse of the banner, running down the flagstaff: yā allah yā raḥīm yā qayūm yā ḍhi’l-jalāl wa’l-ikrām naṣr min allah wa fataḥ qarīb O Allah O merciful O everlasting, O Lord of Majesty and Generosity | Victory is from Allah and a new era imminent [FN/ON/FHM 2019]