Thank you all for the replies. I think Ariel is on to something. The blade and the decoration is obviously Southern Arabian, but there is something Syrian about the scabbard and to an extent, the hilt. Here are two Syrian khanjars (appologies for the poor pictures). The smaller one is obviously recent and made for the tourist market, but note the hilt. The bigger, older one has the stitch on the front, covered under the brass strip. The similarities I would rather not attribute to the Ottomans, as the small jambiya seems to be post 1918, but instead to a traveling Syrian merchant/scabbard maker.
Regards,
Teodor
|