Hey Lee,
Basically, Iraqi arms is one of the most poorly researched fields. Mainly, because Iraqi stuff often look like Syrian (the swords at least)
When it comes to those niello daggers (and swords) with river scenes and some times gold coins, the subject is slightly better known at least by Arabs than compared to other styles. These are made by Sabaean silversmiths who made various items. Sometimes you find redressed items and very good blades too with these silver niello decoration.
There was a shop owned by a Sabaean that specialized in this, I had a note about it somewhere that I cant find at the moment. I think the shop was closed in the 70's and was very popular in Iraq.
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