Roumanian shepherd's belt

SLS · 30th October 2012, 02:12 PM

Hello, again.

Dom - very nice and interesting bedouin belt! Yes, people have always tried to watch their backs...
I will probably post some other pictures with different, more utilitarian belt(s), I have noticed that in Egypt, there also seem to be items of this type. More or less, the same practical needs, I guess.
So, yes, thanks for contributing to this! Really good to see similarities between two remote cultures, even though...(just kidding - speculations over the Sinai Vlachs).

Gene - thanks for getting back. I have noticed the axe thread some time ago.
I am in no way not even near to an expert, so, I can only give you a simple opinion. I have seen a few old axes, some of them were made in villages, some were imported (Austria, I guess). They were all carpenter tools, decorated or not and not really similar to those two in question - they had different shapes (not so curved on both sides), hammer was more flat and square, the decorations were more simple and not that straight/accurate (the folk ones).
There are also some small axes named ”baltag” (from turkish ”balta” - axe), used in northern parts of the country and also in Ukraine and some other parts of Carpathian Arch. These were/are smaller than the ones you posted, more straight and were used as a sign of status (you can see them in Paradjanov's film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" - it depicts Hutsul life and, as already stated, Hutsuls live in Roumania as well). So, no, those axes do not say anything Roumanian to me, they really look different than what I know/have seen (which, again, is very little).

S.L.

30th October 2012, 02:12 PM	#6
SLS Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: România Posts: 17	Hello, again. Dom - very nice and interesting bedouin belt! Yes, people have always tried to watch their backs... I will probably post some other pictures with different, more utilitarian belt(s), I have noticed that in Egypt, there also seem to be items of this type. More or less, the same practical needs, I guess. So, yes, thanks for contributing to this! Really good to see similarities between two remote cultures, even though...(just kidding - speculations over the Sinai Vlachs). Gene - thanks for getting back. I have noticed the axe thread some time ago. I am in no way not even near to an expert, so, I can only give you a simple opinion. I have seen a few old axes, some of them were made in villages, some were imported (Austria, I guess). They were all carpenter tools, decorated or not and not really similar to those two in question - they had different shapes (not so curved on both sides), hammer was more flat and square, the decorations were more simple and not that straight/accurate (the folk ones). There are also some small axes named ”baltag” (from turkish ”balta” - axe), used in northern parts of the country and also in Ukraine and some other parts of Carpathian Arch. These were/are smaller than the ones you posted, more straight and were used as a sign of status (you can see them in Paradjanov's film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" - it depicts Hutsul life and, as already stated, Hutsuls live in Roumania as well). So, no, those axes do not say anything Roumanian to me, they really look different than what I know/have seen (which, again, is very little). S.L.