Saudia Jambiya for Identification

[kahnjar1]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams kahnjar1 I agree with much of your post however, I think the provenance is mixed(as it is with many Omani Khanjars particularly Salalah items) Lets look at this stripped down;
1. Hilt Rhino ~ Could be the Habaabi hilt. Agreed that the pommel configuration is too "Tee Shaped" to be Saidia Royal Style. It could be from another Omani Khanjar see the attached Tee Shaped Dagger. It could also be off a Muscat Khanjar.
2. The big hilt ring... This is off a Royal Omani Hilt for sure...
3. The Cuff silver same geometry as 2 above ... same source.
4. The Throat silver.. 2 and 3 above same source off the Royal weapon.
5. Toe This is off some other Omani Khanjar not the royal style. I have seen a lot of flat ended toe units on Omani Khanjars. Probably Nizwa.
6. Rings ... Not silver but still in the style of Omani and may be from the original scabbard. Two rings missing.
7. The Floral shapes on the hilt... Probably off the same Royal hilt as the other silver work... Same decorative items are on the Habaabi but the chances are this is ex Royal Khanjar silver.

So over-all I reckon mainly taken from a Royal Khanjar but used in Salalah and worn by the Jebali who straddle the border whose relatives are on both sides. It may also be from one of the other Bedu groups around there. Salalah for certain.

Heres a puzzle photo below from which some of the answers may be gleaned ~ I will post on The Omani Khanjar later ... This one is from the TRM(Tareq Rajeb Museum) in Kuwait. Not a common Omani style I have to say.... similar to one I have seen in Mussandam and other similarities with the classic form of Muscat Khanjar...and Royal variety.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Quite frankly I believe that you are completely off track with your comments that everything is from a Saidi Khanjar. Lofty in his post above (#12) states (and correctly) that the neck wrap is too big to be from a Saidi piece.
I will also point out again, that most Omani silver decoration is scroll type. This is NOT, apart from the scabbard toe.
You have , elsewhere, "positively" identified the subject piece as "habaabi or Asir", a distance apart of around 1000 km, and, also "Salalah", which is a further approx 1900 km due east from where you first identified this as being from. To put this in context, it must be remembered that until the end of WW1/WW2, there was very little known of Arabia, and travel overland would mostly have been by camel. Roads as we now know them just did not exist, so the liklihood of someone "sourcing" bits from these areas, so he could make a Khanjar is most unlikely in my opinion..
Now it appears that it is "positively" a stripped down Saidi Khanjar, or at least a Khanjar/Jambiya using most parts of one, and is likely of Omani origin.
Not all daggers and swords found in the Arabian Peninsula come from Oman, and in fact there are many, many, more styles which come from Yemen and Saudia.
I still believe that this Jambiya is either Yemeni/Saudia, or possibly (not positively), from the Salalah border areas with Yemen.
So we do not appear to be any further ahead.........