North African dagger....please can anyone help with script translation

Lew · 13th July 2006, 03:51 PM

Katana

You hit the nail on the head it is some form of nimcha or shula though and not a flyssa. It's North African or Morroccan the blade reminds me of a shulas I have seen.

Lew

Raja Muda · 14th July 2006, 10:19 AM

Hi

The words are in Arabic. I'm guessing that the first is 'silah' which means weapon, and the last 'lil aduw' which means for the enemy?
I can't read the middle word. For further help, I guess you need the good offices of M.Carter or S Al Anizi. BTW, the inscription is the wrong side up

katana · 14th July 2006, 11:00 AM

Thankyou, Raja,
Now you can see my difficulty..... I can't even get the script the right way round

Uploaded another picture... this time the right way up!

Thanks Lew, the shulas I have seen have differing hilts to this example. Do you think it may have been re-hilted 'Nimcha' style?

katana · 16th July 2006, 12:43 PM

BUMP.....sorry, don't usually do this ....but my Arabic is about as good as my cooking......and If I cooked ....we would all starve...

So please, could someone help with the inscription....... thankyou

Justin · 16th July 2006, 05:11 PM

I believe that these are from Turkey although no one seems to have a name or any other specific info on them.Most seem to be fairly crude but I have seen a few on ebay that seemed to have decent blades,the blade on mine is flat and not really even sharpened.

katana · 20th July 2006, 05:54 PM

Hi Justin
mine also has a thin blade....but it is tempered and has a 'slight' edge. Thanks for your informative comments.

fernando · 24th July 2006, 06:39 PM

Hi Katana
I had a visiting Morocan coleague, and asked her for some translations i had in hand ... old weapons stuff. It ocurred to ask about the inscription in this piece of yours. She made a direct interpretation in Portuguese ... hard to revert in english.
Surely the middle terms relates to " keeping out" or "moving out". She went this far:
( With? ) Weapons ( They?) drive away ( the?) enemy
I hope it helps

14th July 2006, 10:19 AM	#2
Raja Muda Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 100	Attempted Reading Hi The words are in Arabic. I'm guessing that the first is 'silah' which means weapon, and the last 'lil aduw' which means for the enemy? I can't read the middle word. For further help, I guess you need the good offices of M.Carter or S Al Anizi. BTW, the inscription is the wrong side up

14th July 2006, 11:00 AM	#3
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	Thankyou, Raja, Now you can see my difficulty..... I can't even get the script the right way round Uploaded another picture... this time the right way up! Thanks Lew, the shulas I have seen have differing hilts to this example. Do you think it may have been re-hilted 'Nimcha' style? Attached Images Last edited by katana; 14th July 2006 at 11:10 AM.

24th July 2006, 06:39 PM	#7
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	middle word Hi Katana I had a visiting Morocan coleague, and asked her for some translations i had in hand ... old weapons stuff. It ocurred to ask about the inscription in this piece of yours. She made a direct interpretation in Portuguese ... hard to revert in english. Surely the middle terms relates to " keeping out" or "moving out". She went this far: ( With? ) Weapons ( They?) drive away ( the?) enemy I hope it helps

13th July 2006, 03:51 PM	#1
Lew (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Coast USA Posts: 3,191	Katana You hit the nail on the head it is some form of nimcha or shula though and not a flyssa. It's North African or Morroccan the blade reminds me of a shulas I have seen. Lew

16th July 2006, 12:43 PM	#4
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	BUMP.....sorry, don't usually do this ....but my Arabic is about as good as my cooking......and If I cooked ....we would all starve... So please, could someone help with the inscription....... thankyou

16th July 2006, 05:11 PM	#5
Justin Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 180	I believe that these are from Turkey although no one seems to have a name or any other specific info on them.Most seem to be fairly crude but I have seen a few on ebay that seemed to have decent blades,the blade on mine is flat and not really even sharpened.

20th July 2006, 05:54 PM	#6
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	Hi Justin mine also has a thin blade....but it is tempered and has a 'slight' edge. Thanks for your informative comments.