Bou-saâdi knife

[FenrisWolf]

Originally Posted by spiral

An object? I was under the impresion the hand alone was used ,hence the "dirtiness" of the left hand? I think they regards objects {The mind boggles } & paper as a unclean process?

Must admit I havent asked the couple of muslims that I know though. Just second hand info from there English wives.

Well old Richard must have had an intresting life! So should we all

Spiral

Not many trees in the Sahara, and cloth takes too long to make to use it as a disposable wipe, so a hand that can then be scrubbed clean with sand would be the practical method. And when you consider that many Middle Eastern dishes are served from communal platters and eaten with the fingers, it only makes sense that you wouldn't want someone using their butt-hand to dip into the couscous...

Making weapons (or even tools for that matter) that conform to a person's grip is nothing new, not is it restricted to only high-end items. I have a low-priced Bowie with staghorn scales that was definitely shaped to be right-handed over left. I popped the pins and flipped the scales and now have an extremely serviceable knife. It wouldn't surprise me at all that some knifemakers in Bou-Saadi would shape their knives for the dominant hand. Not that hard to do, and it would make them more popular.