Kurdish OR Albanian Jambiya ???
 

Hello All!

I just got this lovely jambiya that I think is late 19th or early 20th century. But I chould use some help on identifying the origen of this knife, I think it is either Albanian or Kurdish but I don't know for sure. Any comments are welcome!

Mark...

Iraqi, Kurdish.
Albanian (Arnaouti) are distinguished by deep diagonal counterpointing incisions in the inner corners of the handle.
Interestingly, Miller shows an identical one (Hermitage collection) from Georgia.

Hello Ariel!

Thank you for the fast identification! Do you think I have the date right.

Mark...

I think Ariel is on the money all the way.

Hello All!

Whould this be worn thrust through a sash? Is there a difference between Iraqi Kurdish jambiyas and other Kurdish groups jambiyas?

Mark...

I have a similar one, with a scabbard: no rings at all Must have been stuck under the sash...

Albanian, Turkish, Kurds, Iraqi daggers
 

The more such items I have, the less confident I am regarding identification by handle shape. We use to attribute the ones with the diagonal cut cross guard and pommel (#1) to Albania and the one with the straight cut (#4) to Kurdistan, but unfortunately ALL variation are found all over the place. The photo below show some of the variations:

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/extra/92/000292.jpg

1. West Balkan
2. Central Turkey
3, 4. East Turkey
5. Northern Iraq.

However this is far from being an accurate attribution. Handle shapes and blade shapes from all the area are mixed all around.

With regard to the way these daggers were carried, I trust the photo below is better than thousands words (National Geographic 1938).

http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/extra/93/000293.jpg

Thanks for the picture and the information Artzi!

I almost forgot one last question, does this mean that in identifying one of these it is better to use "Kurdistan" as an identification rather than a more specific term like "Iraqi Kurdistan" ot "Turkish Kurdistan"? Mine seems to resemble the Northern Iraq one thus confirmig Ariels attribution.

Mark...