ASSIB JAMBIYA FOR COMMENT AND TRANSLATION
 

Latest addition to the collection is this Assib Jambiya, in Abdi style. The scabbard I believe was made in the Hadraumaut and the dagger probably is from Hodeida in the Tihama.
There is a significant amount of arabic script on the scabbard and on the reverse of the hilt, and I would appreciate please a translation if possible.
Quite a big Jambiya at 14" from top of hilt to bottom of scabbard curve.

Well I can't translate but that is a nice set. The scabbard is very similar to mine which were made in Hadraumaut by a particular family and were of the finest quality. These scabbards were made up until 1931-32. The jambiya itself seems to be made a bit later than the scabbard still a real nice piece these older quality jambiya are getting harder and harder to these days.

Congrats

Hi Stu,

You're going to soon need bigger walls! ;)

I can see a date '1378' which is 1958/9.
I wonder what the significance of the 'wheel' is?

Best
Gene

Thanks Lew and Gene.
Lew....the family you mention is the Al'Amari, who were in operation (as you say) up until about 1930. Although the date is later, I will have to await a kind translation of the text to be sure that it is in fact Al'Amari.
Gene....Can't at this stage comment on the "wheel" but am awaiting a reply from Steve, so may have further info later. Wall space? What wall space? :confused: Since the quake we have mother in law staying so every spare bit of storage is full. Even have trouble getting to my display cupboard! :( :(

Well mate, at least having your mother in law staying is concentrating your mind on weapons ;)
No wonder you've been buying so many recently.
:rolleyes:

Seriously though. I'll be interested to hear the results of the translation :)

Best
Gene

.................booby traps everywhere :D :D

Very difficult to decipher the writing. Other photos might help.

.................Still hoping for a translation please :)

Please get me a picture that would include both sides with writtings on them. And I'll get it translated for you :)

Thanks. There is a pic of both sides at the beginning of this post and also a pic of the back of the hilt. Sorry I am not clever enough to combine the two pics in one, so hope that what's there will be OK.
Regards Stu

if it was readable I would not have asked for a another one, oh well.

What a lousy atempt :o :eek:

.

...............sorry! We are not all expert with our computers.

Thanks Fernando, I appreciate the combined pic.
Hope all is well with you.
Stu

I sincerely dislike this inscription :P no offence Stu, but damn its frustrating.. I can read the word قطر Qatar on the left side... Maybe its made for a Qatari person? Dont know.. am not sure.

Hi Lofty,
I am still hoping that DOM will come in again on this. I know he is very busy house shifting, so may be a while. I am sure that the inscription read in total will throw some more light on this piece and I am happy to wait for the total translation to be done at a future time.
Regards Stu

Hi Stu,

Never worse :shrug:

Likewise!! :D :D

Don't think my efforts are better than Nandos, but perhaps in combination all will be of some help?
If not then, Stu, email me some clearer pics and I'll be happy to combine them etc.

Thanks Gene,
Hope something comes of this as I am curious as to what script says. Why can't they make it simple and use English!! :D :D

Ok, so there are 6 lines of text plus what is on the hanadle.
first line ÷ احمد not sure of the division sign's purpose the text read Ahmad.
line 2 محمد با قطب الدین can not make out the rest After Mohammad there is با at first i thought it would read Mohammad Baqer but I think it most likely is Mohammad Qutbuddin. The lines on text go form one side to another that is why I was asking for a new picture.
line 3 نس النا شیا بیر my Arabic is really rusty, and I can not make anything out of that, sorry.
line 4 هوللـه I think the maker meant هواللـه He is Allah. on the other side شهر
which means month the Line 5 says which month Rabi Awal ربیع اول. after it on the other side it is سنت which is year and right under it in line 6 is the year with is 1378 which means 54 Lunar years ago. and the pommel, حسن یی Hassan is a name not sure of the other, under it again year and then 11, not sure what is that about. :shrug:
Well i hope that helps a bit

Just remembered that 11 is the numerical value in Arabic of الله Allah, it is totally common that instead writing Allah most still write 11.

Am not too sure about the translation.. Some words can have many meanings because the scribe decided to use dots.. Confusing and annoying lol. I love the dagger though..

The only thing we can not be sure of is what comes after Mohammad محمد the rest is dead on. Even with dots it is pretty easy to read. Someone who is a native Arab should be able to decypher the rest.

Hey mate,

Agree on that, after mohammed it gets rather difficult. I can see that the left side is a reference to a country as I can read Qatar قطر there. Do you see it aswell?

Just to explain my view, the word that looks like qatar قطر could also mean qitr قِطر which could mean direction or branch (of an organisation) or it could be fitr فطر which can mean to break fast or to break "something"

Thats why I think its confusing. Because every single word can have such multiple meanings.

I think the right inscription is: Ahmed Mohammed baq احمد محمد باق then I think it says either Olan عولان or Holan هولان or Holat هولات or Olat عولات both sounds like names but they are unfamiliar to me (am a northern kuwaiti arab so some
southern names are unfamiliar here) keep in mind that most black smiths back then are not good examples in writting arabic. So it could be a name spelled wrongly. The bottom inscription in the right side is rabea amal ربيع امل which means spring of hope but I could be wrong.

Need more time on the left one :/

Welcome back DOM. :) :) No doubt your house is in better shape now. Still hoping you may be able to translate this. I realise it may be a large exercise but hopefully you can see something there. :)