Koummya with nice(?) blade

motan · 4th August 2017, 12:47 PM

Hi Detlef,
I think the blade IS good, but probably foreign made, because of the a-typical bevels. Usually, sides have an unsharpened edge of different lengths: long on convex side and short on the concave side. In yours, the bevels start at the same place, but there is an additional one on the convex side. The forte looks very European-like in a straight hunting dagger.
The scabbard and hilt look like they have been of good quality, but are worn beyond recognition. So, besides the poor condition of the outer part, it probably IS or at least was a good and old dagger.
This assymetry in all koummyas is food for thought. I do not know how curved daggers were used in general, but both sides are usually sharpened in the same way. So, both sides can be equally used for cutting. In koummyas, it appears that the main edge for cutting is the concave edge. Not only because it is longer, but also because in examples where the blade is deformed by re-sharpening, it is the inner edge that has been mostly re-sharpened. A throat cutter??

4th August 2017, 12:47 PM	#5
motan Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Jerusalem Posts: 274	Hi Detlef, I think the blade IS good, but probably foreign made, because of the a-typical bevels. Usually, sides have an unsharpened edge of different lengths: long on convex side and short on the concave side. In yours, the bevels start at the same place, but there is an additional one on the convex side. The forte looks very European-like in a straight hunting dagger. The scabbard and hilt look like they have been of good quality, but are worn beyond recognition. So, besides the poor condition of the outer part, it probably IS or at least was a good and old dagger. This assymetry in all koummyas is food for thought. I do not know how curved daggers were used in general, but both sides are usually sharpened in the same way. So, both sides can be equally used for cutting. In koummyas, it appears that the main edge for cutting is the concave edge. Not only because it is longer, but also because in examples where the blade is deformed by re-sharpening, it is the inner edge that has been mostly re-sharpened. A throat cutter??