The Syrian Jambiya/Khanjar

motan · 5th January 2019, 09:59 AM

Hi Kubur,
Surely a unique find. The hilt with beads is an Ottoman feature known from small daggers, where the the beads are either from stone/amber inlaid with gold, or with emaille decoration. This style has been imitated in Syrian and North African daggers.
As for the dagger itself, I think it is another one made on special order. I tend to think it is bit later than very early 20th c., maybe the 1920's. The use of white metal in the hilt is new to me - always brass in other daggers.
The blade is of excellent quality for this type of daggers, but I think that the fuller is engraved, not forged. The scabbard is in Ottoman style, but the zig-zag decoration is very Syrian/Palestinian.
As for the maker, you may very well be right. The precise and polished finish of the horn and bone parts are typical of Iskander (Skandar) and we know he made special pieces of the rounded hilt style, probably to specific customers. I looked at an earlier thread where Stuart's dagger was introduced and saw his signature on the hilt.
As I mentioned before, Skandar, the Arab version of Alexander, is a name given mostly to Christians. We know that some of the important dagger makers in Majdal Shams were Christians, but they gradually moved to other part of Syria following the great Druze revolt in 1925-1927 and probably kept making daggers elsewhere.

5th January 2019, 09:59 AM	#30
motan Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Jerusalem Posts: 274	Hi Kubur, Surely a unique find. The hilt with beads is an Ottoman feature known from small daggers, where the the beads are either from stone/amber inlaid with gold, or with emaille decoration. This style has been imitated in Syrian and North African daggers. As for the dagger itself, I think it is another one made on special order. I tend to think it is bit later than very early 20th c., maybe the 1920's. The use of white metal in the hilt is new to me - always brass in other daggers. The blade is of excellent quality for this type of daggers, but I think that the fuller is engraved, not forged. The scabbard is in Ottoman style, but the zig-zag decoration is very Syrian/Palestinian. As for the maker, you may very well be right. The precise and polished finish of the horn and bone parts are typical of Iskander (Skandar) and we know he made special pieces of the rounded hilt style, probably to specific customers. I looked at an earlier thread where Stuart's dagger was introduced and saw his signature on the hilt. As I mentioned before, Skandar, the Arab version of Alexander, is a name given mostly to Christians. We know that some of the important dagger makers in Majdal Shams were Christians, but they gradually moved to other part of Syria following the great Druze revolt in 1925-1927 and probably kept making daggers elsewhere.