Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 16th June 2012, 05:26 PM

Salaams Khanjar 1~ This is indeed an important addition to Forum reminding us that these silversmiths are all but lost to history although there is a handful left operating in Yemen. It further serves to illustrate the linkage and influence reflected in Omani silverwork underscored by Ruth Hawley in her famous pamphlet Omani Silver who states that Quote "Jews too may have worked silver in Oman".Unquote. She goes on to draw several parallels with Omani and Yemeni silver designs.

See http://thewalters.org/eventscalendar...ls.aspx?e=2548 for further work by such Yemeni Jewish masters including important buckle identification and another Thuma.

Jesus ben Sirach (Ecclesiastus) writing during the Greek period at the end of the third century BCE, describes the activity of Judaic smiths in vivid poetry:

The maker of carving and cunning device,
Who by night as by day has no rest,
Who engraveth signet rings,
Whose art is to make the likeness true,
And his anxiety is to complete the work.
So also the smith that sitteth by the furnace,
And regardeth his weighty vessels;
The flame of the fire cracketh his flesh,
And with the heat of his furnace he gloweth;
To the hammer's sound he inclineth his ear,
And to the vessel's pattern he directeth his eyes.

For an interesting historical version of Jewish craftsmanship including their presence in Yemen and other countries in Arabia see http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpa...017-1_gold.htm

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

16th June 2012, 05:26 PM	#11
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Salaams Khanjar 1~ This is indeed an important addition to Forum reminding us that these silversmiths are all but lost to history although there is a handful left operating in Yemen. It further serves to illustrate the linkage and influence reflected in Omani silverwork underscored by Ruth Hawley in her famous pamphlet Omani Silver who states that Quote "Jews too may have worked silver in Oman".Unquote. She goes on to draw several parallels with Omani and Yemeni silver designs. See http://thewalters.org/eventscalendar...ls.aspx?e=2548 for further work by such Yemeni Jewish masters including important buckle identification and another Thuma. Jesus ben Sirach (Ecclesiastus) writing during the Greek period at the end of the third century BCE, describes the activity of Judaic smiths in vivid poetry: The maker of carving and cunning device, Who by night as by day has no rest, Who engraveth signet rings, Whose art is to make the likeness true, And his anxiety is to complete the work. So also the smith that sitteth by the furnace, And regardeth his weighty vessels; The flame of the fire cracketh his flesh, And with the heat of his furnace he gloweth; To the hammer's sound he inclineth his ear, And to the vessel's pattern he directeth his eyes. For an interesting historical version of Jewish craftsmanship including their presence in Yemen and other countries in Arabia see http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpa...017-1_gold.htm Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi.