Interesting shibriya
 

[FONT=Arial]Hello all. I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I live in Israel and my specific interest is in the daggers of the Levant. I am trying to build a small collection of them. I have recently bought a shibriya which looks different to anything I have seen before. It is slender and the hilt is made of wood. I have studied shibriyas in old photographs and I know that particularly in its early days in the twenties and thirties, there were many different styles and shapes. I also know from previous threads that some of you own very old and fine examples. Can anyone tell me something about the origin of this one? Thank you

Interesting shape of the pommel that I have never seen before. Maybe some more knowledgeable members can help you with more information.

mine is less ornate

Ask Artzi Yarom at Oriental Arms.
If anyone knows, it is he.

Thanks
 

Thank you for your reactions. Kronkew, yours is special too because it appears to have a leather sheath. Shibriyas almost always have a wood covered with chased brass or white metal sheath.
Mariusgmuoc, this pommel shape is fairly common, especially in pre-WWII shibriyas. The disk and ring on the pommel are even more common in early examples. You can see the in the beautiful thread on ethnographic photographs in this forum.
The recurve blade is the hallmark of true shubriyas, but as far as I know, this a fairly "recent" development. I have never seen a recurve blade on an Arab dagger older that WWI.

:)

Levant
 

Thanks Ariel. I already have, but not via this forum. I only thought, because some of you own good examples I have seen in previous threads (see: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=jordan+knife
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...=Jordan+dagger) that someone might know more. If not, I will not be too surprised. Even in the more established categories, like Mughal weaponry, knowledge gaps are large and items the Levant has only recently attracted attention as genuine ethnographic items. Literature on them is virtually non existent. But to me, this is their specific charm.. :)

Hello,

Syrian Bedouin is my understanding of this type of knife, one of the many variations found through the regions in the early 1900s.

Gavin

the scabbard is wood, covered in black leather, the leather is decorated with a geometric stamped pattern that doesn't show in the photo. the grip is horn. the blade is razor sharp with a needle tip. it's one of my favourites. it was offered on the site i bought it from many moons ago as an "assassin's" dagger, i suspect because it was all black. i found it was a shabriyah from the experts here. :)

they remind me of the roman utility knives which were used in the area as well as the rest of the empire, way way back.

There is a Jordanian TV documentary from the 80's that focuses on the shibriya and its relevance to Jordanian tradition. Its in Arabic and very informative.

One of the things mentioned in the documentary is the use of a material called "tanak" in earlier shibriyas. Tanak was a cheaper mixture of iron and some other materials that served as dress for the average shibriya and silver was supposed to be the finest material used.

Its interesting though that the shibriya is not restricted to only the Levant, but even as far as Nejd it is used, in surprisingly near identical craftmanship.

Do you mean "sica"?
Those were sickle-shaped, not recurved.Sicarii were Judean anti-Roman fighters.
I am not aware of anything else remotely similar in the area.

Here is one from my collection that I like and that is similar to yours, though not as nice. :) It is silver and I think early 20th. These are still carried and used by the Bedouin tribes in Israel and Jordan. I bought this one from Artzi at OA.

Harry

Hello everybody. Thank you all for your reactions. This thread has gone beyond my expectations.
A.alnakas, do you have a link to the documentary? My Arabic is limited, but would very much like to see it.
Knonckew, I would like to make a guess about your shibriya. It is unusual and as I see it, it is a hybrid type. The blade and pommel shape are certainly shibriya, but some details like the workmanship on the blade, the high quality black (buffalo?) horn, the two protruding central bolsters, but most of all, the stamped leather scabbard all point to Kurdish type dagger. Because the territories of the Bedouins and the Kurds meet somewhere in the northern Syrian desert (very bad place to be at the moment) I would place it around there.
Harrywagner, your shibriya is BEAUTIFUL and rare. It is certainly an older example from the 20's or 30's. The craftsmanship is much better than in mine. What did Artzi say about it when you bought it?
Yes, shibriyas are still made today around Amman and are still part of the formal dress of some units of the Jordanian army-recent examples are not as nice and usually very small. The more "standard" types from the 40's-60's look like the photos. I hope Artzi wouldn't mind that I borrowed some from his site..

no, i was referring to the roman legionnaires, not the locals...

I actually bought another shibriya but it was missing from inventory so Artzi substituted this one and another for it, both of which were better than the one I purchased! He said the one I posted is from his private collection and I believe it. I do not often see them as nice as this one, or as nice as yours. I would call both "keepers".

Harry

Here you go, Motan: http://www.medmem.eu/ar/notice/JRT00258

Here is a report I found on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a733Pw0fAF4

This is a woman after my own heart:-)))

Thanks A.alnakkas
 

I have seen them both. Very nice to see the actual work on shibriyas. I am not sure I got much wiser though.
Like many similar middle eastern daggers, for example koumayas, they are still made today, and intended both as tourist souvenir as for local use. However, styles have shifted a little, which makes older ones easier to identify.
Anyway, I enjoyed watching them. Thanks again