Yemeni Jambiya/Thuma with strange markings

[Michael Blalock]

Writing on jambiyas is usually in Ruq'ah script, it's like the difference between cursive and printing in english. It can be impossible to read unless you have had a bit of practice with learing arabic cursive. Most handwritten arabic on antiques and artifacts is written this way so I found it a big help to get a book on learing Ruq'ah script in order to be able to decipher words and look up their meaning in the dictionary.