Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Huge sword

Oriental-Arms · 20th December 2005, 08:16 PM

Hi all

An interesting sword indeed. In all our career we have examined three such swords, all of huge dimensions (we call it Qama to end all Qamas). 42-45 inches total length, 4-5 inches wide. One of these is posted above by Rivkin. The other one is shown below:

For more details on this sword see:Huge Qama

Another similar sword is shown in Tirri’s book, page 206, Fig 143, shown next to a normal size kindjal and defined as Quadarra.

In our opinion, these are Persian, Qajar period, second half of the 19C. In spite of the well forged steel, good sharp edges and good workmanship altogether these are ceremonial swords and not a fighting weapons. They are too big and cumbersome for battle use. We have heard several suggestions as execution swords, swords used in the Ashura celebrations of the Shiites etc.

One more word on our sword posted by Rivkin: It was originally purchased in Jerusalem in 1918, wandered to the USA and returned to Israel. This gives a latest possible date for it.

20th December 2005, 08:16 PM	#5
Oriental-Arms Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Haifa, Israel Posts: 183	Huge Qama Hi all An interesting sword indeed. In all our career we have examined three such swords, all of huge dimensions (we call it Qama to end all Qamas). 42-45 inches total length, 4-5 inches wide. One of these is posted above by Rivkin. The other one is shown below: For more details on this sword see:Huge Qama Another similar sword is shown in Tirri’s book, page 206, Fig 143, shown next to a normal size kindjal and defined as Quadarra. In our opinion, these are Persian, Qajar period, second half of the 19C. In spite of the well forged steel, good sharp edges and good workmanship altogether these are ceremonial swords and not a fighting weapons. They are too big and cumbersome for battle use. We have heard several suggestions as execution swords, swords used in the Ashura celebrations of the Shiites etc. One more word on our sword posted by Rivkin: It was originally purchased in Jerusalem in 1918, wandered to the USA and returned to Israel. This gives a latest possible date for it.