Dom, I hear and obey
, of course, it is also my pleasure to be any help to Efhitis.
It is one of the most common inscriptions on yatağans: the names of the "Seven Sleepers" Yemliha, Mekselina, Mislina, Mernuş, Debernuş, Şazenuş, Kefeştatayuş ve Kıtmir.
Efhitis, for the tuğra where the owners name is written, could you provide a closer look with a new picture?
The last inscription is Ali bin Muhammed, probably the name of the maker.
Also I have a naive question, probably everyone knows the answer, except me. When I am reading these inscriptions ,whenever I see the word amel-i (work of/made by) followed by a name, I always assumed that that's the person who made that yatağan. While going through the yatağan catalog of Istanbul Military Museum, I came across examples with inscriptions and readable stamps on them. For example on the stamp, it clearly says amel-i Abdullah but on the inscription it says amel-i Mustafa. Logical explanation is that blade was made by Abdullah and inscription and ornamentation were made by Mustafa. But how about the ones only with inscriptions? Should we assume that blade was made someone anonymous and the inscription was written by the person whose name is on the yatağan? I know this is not a crucial issue since in the absence of surnames, we cannot apparently determine major yatağan craftsmen and their work. Anyway, just the mumblings of a yatağan enthusiast
Best,
Zifir