Jambiya in Yemen

[Multumesc]

The Yemeni Jambiya I really like.I appreciate the patience and skill with which it is done.I have a question:When was manufactured ? Thank you.

[Multumesc]

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[Multumesc]

Nobody knows ???

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by Multumesc

Nobody knows ???

The coin looks like a Roman Aureus (golden coin). The macro picture is not good enough to read the inscription. A second coin is lost.

If i'm right, the value of the coin is much higher than the knife.

The golden coin also indicates a good to high quality of this Jambiya.

I would date the Jambiya back to the 19th century or very early 20th century.

[harrywagner]

I think Roland is probably right. Can you determine if the coin in gold? You see a lot of brass ones. What does the wood inside the sheath look like? 100 year old wood should be dark and look almost petrified.

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by harrywagner

100 year old wood should be dark and look almost petrified.

Not necessarily, it depends on environment conditions and how good the wood was treated in its active time. A little bit of wax from time to time, thats all.
Especially hardwood aging is extremely slow.

In Germany we have quite wet weather conditions but we also have half-timbered houses, which are hundreds of years old.
The house in the picture is from 1617.


Roland

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams all... I wouldnt necessarily bother about the scabbard ..or the wood inside it...because often the scabbards are from another weapon or replaced new . I would exercise caution on the coin which looks golden coloured but may well be brass.. like the metal strip next to it. The hilt looks like cowhorn (although with Yemeni Jambia there was a lot of Rhino used...and transferred from Rhino Hilted Swords from Ethiopia)... Guessing the age of the blade is also difficult but I dont think it is that old...again blades get replaced thus what parts were original?

Clearly this wasnt knocked out last week but trying to decide when the original was hoisted is very difficult...if not impossible. If it is a vital question I would err on the safe side and say about 50 years, however, with recent additions...

I would prefer a question as to what type of belt and how it was worn and the idiosyncracies of these daggers and how they have been adapted added to or had parts replaced? etc.

On the hilt question I add from Wikepedia Quote" The most famous sort of the janbia is that which has a "saifani" or ivory handle. It has a dim yellowish luster. The more translucent ivory will turn a yellow color with age. This is called "saifani heart". Some of the ivory handles are called "asadi", when they turn into greenish yellow. When the handle becomes whitish yellow, it is called "zaraf". There is also an albasali (onionish), kind whose color looks like that of a white onion."Unquote.

There is another expensive rare horn called almosae but I am not certain from what it comes..

I saw a very impressive Jambia at http://shbabon.blogspot.com/2013/07/...rt-dagger.html and record a picture of it below;

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Michael Blalock]

Venetian Ducat, minted for hundreds of years like the Maria Theresa Thaler and often imitated even in gold, used as international trade currency, most likely a brass copy made in India. See the writing from the 10 o'clock position to 12 o'clock. DUCAT
They were on all the Jambiyas.

[harrywagner]

Originally Posted by Michael Blalock

Venetian Ducat, minted for hundreds of years like the Maria Theresa Thaler and often imitated even in gold, used as international trade currency, most likely a brass copy made in India. See the writing from the 10 o'clock position to 12 o'clock. DUCAT
They were on all the Jambiyas.

If it is a real ducat then that might indicate that it pre-dates WWI. I believe it was around that time the ducat was replaced with the newly acquired sovereigns that T.E. Lawrence was passing around. You see a lot of brass fakes of those also.

[Michael Blalock]

Ibrahim, that is the jambiya of Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Ahmar. It has appeared here previously here as the "million dollar Jambiya". It is reported to have belonged to Imam Ahmed. Al-Ahmar was certainly in a position to obtain the imam's Jambiya as he was the head Sheikh of the Hashid tribe and effectively controlled the presidents of Yemen since the revolution in 1962. He was held as a hostage by the Imam in his youth and his father was eventually executed by the Imam. He passed several years ago. The jambiya looks to be in the hands of his younger son Hamid al Ahmar.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Michael Blalock

Ibrahim, that is the jambiya of Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Ahmar. It has appeared here previously here as the "million dollar Jambiya". It is reported to have belonged to Imam Ahmed. Al-Ahmar was certainly in a position to obtain the imam's Jambiya as he was the head Sheikh of the Hashid tribe and effectively controlled the presidents of Yemen since the revolution in 1962. He was held as a hostage by the Imam in his youth and his father was eventually executed by the Imam. He passed several years ago. The jambiya looks to be in the hands of his younger son Hamid al Ahmar.

Salaams Michael Blalock, Always nice to see your posts...Thank you for the details. Here is a further reference showing the weapon in the possession of Sheikh Sadiq bin Abdullah bin Hussein bin Nasser al-Ahmar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadiq_al-Ahmar
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Michael Blalock]

Sadiq fell afoul of his father while he was away in Saudi Arabia getting treatment so maybe Hamid has it now or he has a similar Jambiya.

[Michael Blalock]

Here is a photo of the sheikh that my father took in 1964. At the time he wore a simpler tribesmen's Jambiya.
The al Ahmar family had a website with hundreds of historical photographs, mostly of the Sheikh. Unfortunately it has disappeared. I should have downloaded them all and saved them.