Bedouin Sword for Discussion

[kahnjar1]

Just received this lovely old tribal Bedouin sword. European blade which no marks, and scabbard with ORIGINAL leather covering, with some very minor loss. The drag is shrunk on and is what looks to be green goat skin, with most of the hair still there. Makes a VERY sturdy drag as it is extremely hard. Reverse side of scabbard shows the lacing used to secure the leather.
The hilt is an obvious Nimcha copy, and has a very large "Zanzibari type" ring guard.
What do we think Gentlemen?

[Iliad]

Just junk. Send it to me and I will dispose of it for you.I do this out of the kindness of my heart.
Brian

[TVV]

Are we 100% sure that those crude hilts with ringed crossguards are Bedouin, and not say, a Yemeni interpretation of the Zanzibari guard for example? Has someone with local knowledge been able to confirm the Bedouin attribution?
Regards,
Teodor

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams TVV..Good point. These are very common in souks in Sanaa, Sharjah and Muscat etc etc ..where they ship out with the unsuspecting tourist market. It is known that they are recent rehilts "matched" in those centres. The hilts are commonly mass produced or at least knocked out in large numbers in Sanaa using crude copied designs and slapped on any blade that comes to hand. Occasionally and more by accident than design a hilt gets matched on a reasonable European blade...but that is more by pure chance. These are tourist swords I'm sorry to say.

I will pass by and see if there are any in the Buraimi souk...there's normally a few. My advice is to avoid these.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Atlantia]

Hi Stu,

Great looking sword.
Looks like a real fighter! Love the broad wide blade.
Any marks on the blade? Can we see some close-ups of the fullers?

[kahnjar1]

Perhaps if these are as common as you say, you could provide some pics of them actually in the Souks.
This is NOT a tourist piece, unlike some of the Replicas/Rebuilds coming out of Oman. This piece is too old and very functional.

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams TVV..Good point. These are very common in souks in Sanaa, Sharjah and Muscat etc etc ..where they ship out with the unsuspecting tourist market. It is known that they are recent rehilts "matched" in those centres. The hilts are commonly mass produced or at least knocked out in large numbers in Sanaa using crude copied designs and slapped on any blade that comes to hand. Occasionally and more by accident than design a hilt gets matched on a reasonable European blade...but that is more by pure chance. These are tourist swords I'm sorry to say.

I will pass by and see if there are any in the Buraimi souk...there's normally a few. My advice is to avoid these.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

Perhaps if these are as common as you say, you could provide some pics of them actually in the Souks.
This is NOT a tourist piece, unlike some of the Replicas/Rebuilds coming out of Oman. This piece is too old and very functional.

Yes of course in a few minutes... the souks are awash with them...on the other hand I wouldnt want to make a presentation which could be misconstrued as commercially biased since that could hurt the sensibilities of certain individuals... not that I would do that..of course. That is not to discourage people going to the souk... its great fun and full of weird stuff; some real, some not. I find it irresistable and reccommend it to all visitors.

Anyway these fakes...they sometimes have a good blade.. its just pot luck...

Its just what sells..The tourists scoop them up all over the place. I can show scores of them all stacked up in the souk in Mutrah and I know theres a load in Sharjah they haul in box loads from India and Yemen. I saw bundles of Tulwar in Sharjah the other day...same situation with those...they look alright but they aren't. Theres a complete back street industry been knocking these out for tourists for donkeys years in Sanaa and India etc.

Im just off to Buraimi Souk theres some over there. I know the shop owner ... I will ask him where he gets them. He is Yemeni... so I guess... Sanaa? Thats where Muscat gets their bulk of junk. There aren't (well maybe about 3 a month) any tourists in Yemen so swords are pouring out ~exporting to surrounding souks. I just rang up the Muscat boys and when they could stop laughing they said its just "bread and butter"...they sell loads of them... they are in the right price range to be carted off by tourists off cruise ships who often dont even ask if they are genuine..

I imagine they also exist in just about every souk from here to Morocco, Egypt, Yemen UAE and in India etc... serious buyers beware. The proper Nimchas are a cut above these.

I shall include later an article in the "Souks of Oman" thread on how to spot fakes.

They are souvenirs for tourists.


Photo.
( See below Yemeni sword put up for tourists to buy...typefied by a not bad looking blade(new) Picture taken by me tonight at about 9pm. 31 Dec 2012. Buraimi Souk. According to the store owner who is Yemeni ~Hilt knocked up in a backyard workshop in Sanaa, Scabbard made to order..same souk. Same applies to Mutrah and other souks in that traders in this case from the Habaabi region in Saudia adjacent Yemen and offloaded this. Apparently these weapons can be further aged by being dropped in car battery acid and then buried in the ground. The same can be done to scabbards..Looks like it came out of a similar workshop to the project sword at #1.)

Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[DaveA]

Originally Posted by Iliad

Just junk. Send it to me and I will dispose of it for you.I do this out of the kindness of my heart.
Brian

Does this ploy ever work? I must remember it!

PS: love the sword!

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Does this ploy ever work? I must remember it!

PS: love the sword!

No it does not. I know Brian personally and his sense of humour!