Small Arab ? knife for I.D.

[colin henshaw]

Hi

I acquired this small, well made knife with a silver handle recently. Length about 23 cm.

Am I right in saying its from the Arabian peninsula and would be worn with a jambiya ?

Does that "fish-scale" type pattern to the blade indicate it was made from an old file ?

Thanks for any assistance & comment.

[Gavin Nugent]

Nice pickup, I saw this one being offered but I was unsure if the blade was an old file of not from the images I had, certainly looks better than the auction photos I was offered and the hilt is gorgeous.
Elgood refers to this as a Shafra, also known as a Khusa in other regions.
See page 86 of The Arms and Armour of Arabia for a comparative photo.
I liked the hilt too, reminds me of some of the Mecca style hilts seem on Jambiya. Incidentally, Elgood notes that the Northern Arabs refer to the name Shafra as the knife that sits behind the Jambiya.

I hope this is of some help and offers a direction.

Gav

[kahnjar1]

Hi Colin,
This IS a SHAFRA but not the sort which goes behind a Jambiya.
Check out thread titled SILVER MOUNTED FILE KNIFE. There is discussion there on this, and other knives called Shafra and Khusa and hopefully will clarify for you.
VERY NICE PIECE.
Regards Stuart

[colin henshaw]

Many thanks Gav & Stuart. Very interesting...I had heard of Native American "crooked knives" having being made from old files, but not knives from Arabia.

Regards
Colin