Is this Sham Wootz?? On a Wahabi Jambiya??

[AJ1356]

Archer, the word shamshir شمشیر just meants sword in Farsi, to my knowledge it is not a combination of sham and shir, shir شیر however by itself mean lion. Sham شم by itself does not mean anything, Shaam شام on the other hand besides the anciant name for Syria, is also referred to the time right after sunset, or also when darkness covers the sky. I know for sure Damascuss pattern swords were called شمشیر دمشق swords from Damascuss. Yeah I am deployed in Afghanistan right now.

[A.alnakkas]

Interesting information, AJ. I think the term "Sham" for the Sham pattern is refering to what is now Syria indeed.

(off-topic: I always thought AJ is Afghan!)

[ALEX]

Originally Posted by AJ1356

Archer, the word shamshir شمشیر just meants sword in Farsi, to my knowledge it is not a combination of sham and shir, shir شیر however by itself mean lion. Sham شم by itself does not mean anything, Shaam شام on the other hand besides the anciant name for Syria, is also referred to the time right after sunset, or also when darkness covers the sky. I know for sure Damascuss pattern swords were called شمشیر دمشق swords from Damascuss. Yeah I am deployed in Afghanistan right now.

here's complete reference:-) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scimitar
then click on Shamshir link.

Persian/Farsi and Arabic are different languages:-) Shamsheer means "lion's tale" in Farsi. Another reference - a possible origin from the Persian shim- or shamshir. This, in turn, is said to be derived from Middle Persian "shafshēr" meaning; "lion's claw" (sham = claw, shir = lion), in reference to the sword's curve. However, this is likely a folk etymology, as the word is already attested in Middle persian with the meaning "sword".
Now, back to the Sham discussion:-)