Kurdish? Dagger
 

Hi,
Latest purchase. I nead information as to its age, origin, if it is a tourist piece or not and a translation of what is carved into the blade. All help will be greatly appreciated. This is all the information I have at this point. Sorry about the picture quality.

Blade lenth is 11 inches.
Blade is 1/4 inch thick.
Total lenth is 19 inches.

Looks like a modern bazaar version of N.African "Khodmi" with a Yataghan-ish pommel.
Look at this site:
http://www.couteaux-jfl.com/trad_afrique.htm
Nice information here.

Ariel,
Could you please pinpoint exactly what you want me to look at on this site? I don't seem a to be able to find the information that you are referring to. Thanks.

Robert

Hello Robert,
At the top of the list, the table simply indicates that Khodmi is an Algerian knife. Found throughout the Maghrib. The rest of the site
http://www.couteaux-jfl.com/plan.htm has more info but in French. Check out this thread
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1071

Manolo

Arial and Manolo,
Thanks for the help. So I take it that this is a relatively new knife made as a tourist piece and for decorative purposes only. What does the writing on the blade mean if anything, or is it only for decoration too?

Robert

Robert, this does indeed look like a tourist piece. It's too flashy. A genuine Khedama -Arabic word for knife, employed by Algerian Kabyles- would simply be made in wood, carved and wrapped in leather perhaps. The gold/brass stuff looks like imitation and useless. As for the engraving/writing, I don't know what it says, but I think it is too large and crude. Most blades I've seen feature smaller, more delicate work, if at all.

I think that as a rule, no matter what country you're in, old traditional edged weapons for sale are never flashy or covered in precious metals/stones. A simple functional scabbard and hilt would be the norm, with emphasys on the quality of the blade. The trully princely ones are already in museums and private collections.

Manolo

It's too small for me to read, but 99% it's a verse from Koran.