Yemen Dagger

[fearn]

I'm certainly not an expert, but we've had discussions over the years on how to test whether the hilt is rhino horn. Use the advanced search to check some of the older archives.

It's also worth reading the Guide to CITES if you do have a rhino horn hilt that's modern. There can be legal issues with transport of such an item.

Best,

F

[Lew]

Here is a link.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ght=RHINO+HORN

Btw you should read this article seems The Chinese are flooding the Yemen markets with cheap plastic hilted jambiya Is nothing sacred anymore .

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/m...ers-made-china

[Michael Blalock]

Jim, Though the word is spelled janbiyya it is pronounced in Yemen with an m so the transliteration jambiya is correct. Why that is I don't know becuase the root of the word is J*N*B which means "side", "sideways" or "beside" in Arabic.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Michael Blalock

Jim, Though the word is spelled janbiyya it is pronounced in Yemen with an m so the transliteration jambiya is correct. Why that is I don't know becuase the root of the word is J*N*B which means "side", "sideways" or "beside" in Arabic.

Hi Michael,
Thanks very much for explaining that, its always interesting to know more on the roots of these terms, and to understand the correct application.

All the best,
Jim

[Steve]

Hi again,
Just to answer Louie's query. The joulba is a jambiya style found mainly in the north and western parts of Yemen defined primarily by the shape of the scabbard.

Louie, probably you already know this, but your two horn hilted daggers are from the Hadhramaut area. The rhino one is a great style and are lovelly pieces - I have one also. The little silver dagger is harder to place but my guess would be also from southern Yemen, probably Mukalla or Habbin areas which had a population of quality silversmiths.

Steve

[Lew]

Steve

Thanks for the quick reply. I thought these might be from Hadhramaut but my Yemen friend Salah who was my go to person passed away and his son is not as knowlegable when it comes to jambiya. I am actually teaching him . I was very interested to know if the silverwork could have been done by Jewish smiths I have heard from my friend mentioned above that they did the finest work in Yemen and after 1950 there was a marked decline in the workmanship of the silverwork due to the exodus of the Yemeni Jews to Israel.

Btw I found this part of an article on the web.

After most of the Jews left Yemen in 1948-1950, the ruler of Yemen, Imam Ahmed, saw that jewelrymaking was in decline and tried to save the industry by ordering some of the Jewish silversmiths to teach their craft to Muslims before they left the country (Muchawsky-Schnapper 2000). But all the secret knowledge that been passed through the generations of the old silversmiths could not be taught in a few years.

[Steve]

Louie,
Yes, you're right, the jewish silversmiths were there one day and gone the next.

For your interest I've attached a photo of the patriarch of one of the last great Moslem jambiya making families in Sana'a. He's holding his own belt and jambiya.
Steve