azimat on sikin scabbard: help please!
 

Anyone who would like to try helping me with a translation of a text, written on a sikin scabbard?

It is a long text, almost along the whole backside of the scabbard.
If anybody would be that kind and wants to give it a try, I could move the metal bands and post some close up images of the whole text...

Thank you in advance,
Maurice

Maurice ... as you know ... (Posts: 552) :p
may you apply our rules for translation, please :D
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=11201

anyway, after review,
the writing uses the Arabic alphabet,
but the language used is not the Arab :shrug:

regards

à +

Dom

Dom, I was hoping for your help....:-)
And yes............I know the rules and will also respect them!
But....it came in today, and couldn't wait asking for help on the translation, so I quickly made a picture of text only because I had little time this afternoon.
I made more images just half an hour ago, and will post them after uploaded them from my camera to my computer, if I find a little time this evening.

And ofcourse I have taken better images of the text, hoping to get any translation..:D

Regards,
Maurice

And it took me more as 3,5 years to post them!:rolleyes:

Here it is.
No gold, suassa, ivory, silver or provenance, just another sikin....

Regards,
Maurice

Text close ups!
 

Here some close ups of the text!

Forgive me if the text is upside down. :shrug:
If so we have 3 options:

Option 1:
Turn your computerscreen upside down and try to translate!

Option 2:
Stand on your head before the computerscreen and try to translate than

.......and if that don't work either, we still have option 3!

Option 3:
I will turn the images and post them the other way around...:D

Looks like I see a bismallah in the first picture (which is upside down).

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/9104/lolw.gif ... hard luck

ALL upside down :p
à +

Dom

Thank you Jose,

I hope we can figure out the translation
I will post the images of the text turned the right way....

@ Dom: That is also the reason why I don't participate in the lottery.......:D

Congrats, Maurice - nice one!

Hello,

This is the ultimate way to embaress myself trough contributing to translation of script and language I don't read/speak.

But I always facinated with translation so I give it a try, I just try to read the azimat using (my guide). I try to approach by Bahasa Indonesia instead of Bahasa Aceh (I don't speak Aceh). I believe you can't get a firm meaning without some help from Aceh speaker.

Totally amaturish translation (might be totally error) but it turns out like the script was written by the sheath maker/smith/seller with record of pricing, names, etc.

I hope somebody else able to contribute better translation. Please regard this as better than nothing ;) .

Congrats for the new acquisition :)

Thanks Kai!
What is a modest Atjeh collection worth without a sikin? :shrug: ;)

Well, at first I really appreciate your try for translating this text. Don't feel embaressed, I was the one who posted it upside down. :o


It might be that "mohd", also member on this forum could help. He translated also the text on my ladieng recently.


I never heard of the written text of prices etc. on an antique scabbard, made for warfare..:shrug:
That normally is the case with touristic pieces, where names of towns and dates are often mentioned on the blades or carved in the scabbards.
This scabbard certainly is no touristic piece....
If your translation is correct, than an "Azimat" is not the right word for this text.

Regards,
Maurice

Hi Maurice, I just read your message and here I am! In fact I'm just wondering whether I'm of any help to you in translations :o

You did great Tunggul! In fact you'd done most of the bushwhacking which make things easier for me to look into the translation path of the text!

No and yes Dom! It's not really Arabic alphabet but it's what we called as Jawi Alphabet which is a customized version of Arabic alphabet. Certain Arabic alphabets which are considered as not user friendly to our Malay tongue are either customized or dropped! And yes, that's not an Arabic language! It's a Malay language.

I don't speak Aceh either. IMVHO the text is written in Malay language with some non Malay words (i.e. maybe Aceh words) in them.

And again you're correct Tunggul! The text is just telling about the owner of the scabbard, the pricing and the address of the scabbard maker .. or some sort like that :D

Transliteration:
Inilah ampunya sarung sikinsing Husin [rb] pos kumang aupu liau
Harga sarung sikin lima suku harga sikin dua puluh dua
Maklun aupu liau sikin ada besi yang mat husin hn kupk
inilah alamat sarung builangan utang sing ngar kuala kn nbkn

1st line tells that the owner (i.e. ampunya) of the scabbard is Husin (i.e. with some info about Husin which I couldn't understand)
2nd line tells that the price (i.e. harga) of the scabbard is 5 1/4 and the price of the sikin is 22
3rd line tells more about Husin and steel which I couldn't fully understand
4th line tells about address (i.e. alamat) of Kuala [something]

I/A: I'll analyze it further and I'll let you all know especially Maurice of any success in getting the full text to be translated into English :shrug:

Hope this helps a little :D

mohd

Hi mohd,

Thanks for replying.
It seems that Tunggulametung was on the right way than!
Strange, cause I wonder why they want that info on a scabbard?:shrug:

I was thinking of some phrase of the koran, or some spell to prevent the carrier from behing hurt in wartime...
Seems it to be an address with price of scabbard etc.....

Anyway, Tunggulametung, great work.
Now two of you guys are backing eachother up on this, I fully trust your translation!

There is also something written in other "western" script, but I can't make anything of it.
I have to look soon with a magnifier, maybe I can decipher the letters.

Again, thank you both for your effords.
And if you find out more, please let me know! It would be great to have the whole translation.
It might be from the one who sold it eventually to a Dutch marechausse, who was stationed in North Sumatera and who brought it back as wartrophy and asked the owner then to put that kind of info in the scabbard.

Kind Regards,
Maurice

This is indeed a strange and interesting text.
I would think along the same line as you on this Maurice but this might be one you'll never really will know...

no, unfortunately we can't look back in history.

But this is also the fun of the amazing thing of collecting.
There is always much more to learn from these pieces, which make them unique by itself.

Who else has such fine carved quality sikinscabbard as I have with a shoppinglist written on it? :D

Maurice
in case of sentences extracted from Holy Koran,
the matter will be very easy, I mean for us,
because
it's ONLY Arabic language which is used :p
what ever the country concerned

à +

Dom