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Old 13th May 2006, 06:58 PM   #14
ariel
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Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M.carter
Ariel,

I would say that this sword would have been called a "saif", not a Kilij, and certainly not a shamshir, check this out :

http://oriental-arms.com/photos.php?id=358

The scabbard is very similar, and also the blade and the koftgari, just the hilt is different, but still, Turkish bulb hilts were called "kilwi" hilts by Syrians, and were produced in Damascus probably even more than the typical "baddawi" classical arabic hilt.

EDIT: Oh and one more thing, the description on that is wrong, as pointed out by Artzi himself a long time ago on swordforum, this blade is made in damascus, not persian.
That was exactly my point: a sword made under the artistic influence of Ottoman Empire would be called differently : Kilij in Turkey, Saif in Arabian areas, Mech in Russia,Szablja in Poland etc. Peculiarly, in Russia , a very much Shamshyr -type sabers were called Klych and the local name for the Bedouin sword (resembling shashka most of all ) is also Klych. Undoubtedly, Turkish influence.
This one can legitimately be called Saif in Damascus or Kilic in Istanbul.
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