A dagger and robes which shaped the legend of Lawrence of Arabia have been saved for the nation with the help of grants totalling more than £113,000.
The dagger belonging to TE Lawrence was sold last year to an overseas buyer but an export bar was imposed on the advice of experts in the hope someone would come forward to provide funding to keep it in the UK.
The National Army Museum has secured the dagger with £78,400 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), which was set up to remember those who gave their lives for the UK and has safeguarded heritage from the Mary Rose to the Flying Scotsman.
A second grant from the NHMF of £35,000 has helped the museum save Arab robes and headdress, known as a kaffiyah, belonging to Lawrence.
The archaeologist and diplomat was considered one of the most recognisable figures of the First World War owing to his work in the Middle East and his involvement in the Arab Revolt.
He was presented with the curved steel and silver dagger, known as a jambiya, by Sherif Nasir in 1917 after the victory by the forces of the Arab Revolt against the Turkish at Aqaba in Jordan. The scene featured in the film Lawrence of Arabia.
The robe was one of two given to the mother of Arthur Russell, who enrolled in the Tank Corps with Lawrence, with instructions to cut them up and make dresses of them - although this one was saved.
The kaffiyah was given to the artist Cosmo Clark, who was one of the illustrators for Lawrence's book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, after the author sat for a portrait in 1922.
Lawrence said of the Arab dress in which he was always seen: "If you can wear Arab kit when with the tribes, you will acquire their trust and intimacy to a degree impossible in uniform."
The robes and dagger became part of his mystique and forms the image of him still remembered today.
Culture Minister Matt Hancock said: "The image of TE Lawrence with his dagger is one of the most iconic of the 20th century.
"It's fantastic news that thanks to the export bar process this extraordinary piece will now be on display along with his robes and kaffiyah at the National Army Museum for all of the public to enjoy."
Sir Peter Luff, chairman of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, said: "TE Lawrence was a remarkable man and is an enduring figure in popular culture.
"These items are a vital part of his wartime identity which should not be lost to the nation. That is why the National Heritage Memorial Fund decided to step in to help the National Army Museum to buy them."
And Dr Peter Johnston, from the National Army Museum, said: "What makes the dagger and robes so significant, and such an important part of British heritage, is the way in which they have featured in the cultural memory and legacy of Lawrence and the Middle East campaign of the First World War.
"The dagger and the robes even became important narrative features at the heart of David Lean's epic film Lawrence of Arabia, which has shaped and dictated how we in modem Britain, and elsewhere in the world, think of Lawrence of Arabia and Britain's role in shaping the region."
The National Army Museum contributed £44,100 to secure the dagger, and £15,000 to acquire the robes.
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