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Tumi of gold, ceremonial axe - Height 35,4cm - Weight 457,5 g - 22 carat - set with turquoise - Chimú culture - Museo Oro del Perú - Lima - 1977

Lambayeque culture - gold tumi with turquoise inlays, representing the deity "Naymlap" - 22 carat - weight 536 g - Museo Oro del Perú - Lima - 1977

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Les peuples précolombiens ont travaillé l'or qui avait pour eux une valeur symbolique. Ils en ont tiré des objets rituels parmi lesquels figurent des couteaux sacrificiels appelés tumi. Collection privée

The legends are only available in German, French or Spanish
Tumi de Pukamoqo (Cuzco) en Ilaqsa ou tumbaga, le savant alliage d'or, de cuivre et d'étain des orfèvres impériaux. Le manche de la hache sacrificielle est surmonté d'une tête de lama aux oreilles et yeux de cuivre pur. Hauteur: 19,5 centimètres. (Museo e Instituto de Arqueobogia de la Universidad nacional del Cuzco, Pérou.)

Tumi of gold, ceremonial axe - Chimú culture - Private collection - Lima - 1969

The golden tumi of Íllimo was a knife or ceremonial axe of the Lambayeque culture (8th to 14th centuries), although it was long wrongly attributed to the Chimú culture. It was made of embossed gold leaf and inlaid with semi-precious stones. Its blade had a semi-circular shape and its handle was an elaborate representation of a deity, probably the mythical Naylamp mentioned in Spanish chronicles. It is the most famous example of old Peruvian goldsmithing. It was stolen from the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in Lima in 1981. The valuable stolen piece had the following dimensions: Total length 43.5 cm; length of the figure of the god 29 cm; length of the knife in the shape of a half-moon 14.5 cm; maximum width 15.5 cm. The weight was 1 kilogram. - 1977