The Omani Khanjar

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by RhysMichael

Thank you Ibrahiim I look forward to them

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I met Wilfred 4 times. They called him Mubarrak bil London around here... Here he is wearing an Omani Khanjar which appears to be off the Baatinah coast. ( From the Thesiger Collection by Motivate Publishing ISBN 1 8735 44 316 )

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[BANTARU]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I met Wilfred 4 times. They called him Mubarrak bil London around here... Here he is wearing an Omani Khanjar which appears to be off the Baatinah coast. ( From the Thesiger Collection by Motivate Publishing ISBN 1 8735 44 316 )

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

wow you met him!

Luck you. I wish I could meet him. was it recently (like within 10 years ago), or was it from the times when he used to roam around like a nomad? That guy is like the Lawrence of Arabia of the trucial coast.

btw he was called Umbarak I think.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by BANTARU

wow you met him!

Luck you. I wish I could meet him. was it recently (like within 10 years ago), or was it from the times when he used to roam around like a nomad? That guy is like the Lawrence of Arabia of the trucial coast.

btw he was called Umbarak I think.

Salaams BANTARU ~ Yes Umbarak or Mubarak bil London ... he was the last of the great European explorers after WW 2 in Arabia. He is a legend here. I first met him in about 1989 when he was on a visit here and then several times after that but sadly he died a few years ago in London. Some lady stood up at the first meeting and asked Wilfred what he would change if he could in his lifetime...There was absolute silence ... and he pondered for a moment and said...in his very proper Oxford accent..."The um... Internal combustion engine" ! Wilfred was completely bedouin at heart and would have everyone back on donkeys and camels and never mind the 21st Century !!

I was fortunate to meet him before he died and took him to see a local friend, one of the beni kaab, on his farm near here. Wilfred was very frail and would have the odd flash back to when he was in the same area years ago and spoke to me as he thought I was Bin Gabaisha. There he was .. this amazing old man who had walked/camel ridden the entire rub al Qali several times in the most fiercely hot weather and often hostile surroundings where if he had been caught he would most certainly have been killed. They don't make them like that anymore.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[BANTARU]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams BANTARU ~ Yes Umbarak or Mubarak bil London ... he was the last of the great European explorers after WW 2 in Arabia. He is a legend here. I first met him in about 1989 when he was on a visit here and then several times after that but sadly he died a few years ago in London. Some lady stood up at the first meeting and asked Wilfred what he would change if he could in his lifetime...There was absolute silence ... and he pondered for a moment and said...in his very proper Oxford accent..."The um... Internal combustion engine" ! Wilfred was completely bedouin at heart and would have everyone back on donkeys and camels and never mind the 21st Century !!

I was fortunate to meet him before he died and took him to see a local friend, one of the beni kaab, on his farm near here. Wilfred was very frail and would have the odd flash back to when he was in the same area years ago and spoke to me as he thought I was Bin Gabaisha. There he was .. this amazing old man who had walked/camel ridden the entire rub al Qali several times in the most fiercely hot weather and often hostile surroundings where if he had been caught he would most certainly have been killed. They don't make them like that anymore.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Salaam Wajah,

hahaha yes I almost byhearted his book. I remember him expressing his dislike for motor-cars in it. Truly, I think along his same lines. I prefer the bedu on camels ,rather than flashy cars. They look so elegant and noble on them.

Wow thats nice of you. I heard Bin Kabina & Bin Ghabhaisha are still alive. I wish I could talk to them. theres so much to know. Bin Kabina is currently in Saudi Arabia I guess. Bin Ghobaisha was the most notorious outlaw of the Trucial Coast, after Thesiger left. He had many blood feuds on his hand, and was even imprisoned by the Emir of Sharjah.

anyways I guess you know all of this.


you are right. The hardy adaptable colonial Englishman is very rare these days. I wish things were actually back like then. .

[RhysMichael]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I met Wilfred 4 times. They called him Mubarrak bil London around here... Here he is wearing an Omani Khanjar which appears to be off the Baatinah coast. ( From the Thesiger Collection by Motivate Publishing ISBN 1 8735 44 316 )

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

I would have loved to have met him and just listened to some of the stories he could have told. To quote Buffett "Our lives change like the weather but a legend never dies" Thanks for posting the picture

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All. A Sandalwood hilt for library. This Khanjar is a Baatinah design similar to #61 and the weapon being made at # 5. The design of the belt link hook assembly is quite unusual.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All ~ The most common style of fake Khanjar for sale in the souks is based on the Royal Khanjar style ... The blade has a rather weak tinny ding to it and the metal is very shiny whitemetal or zinc looking. The rings tend to be a bit thin and small. The hilts are made of cheap wood. Look around the shop you may well see a heap of these ready to roll out once one is sold. No attempt has been made by the automatic workshop (somewhere in India)to individualise each Khanjar and if you can pick up two just check the details ...Copied fakes are usually identical. Heres five;

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All; Note to Library. This Khanjar shows clearly the design known as The Eyes of The Bedouin, and is a Coastal, Baatinah style of 4 ringer. The hilt is poly.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

How to clean silver?

Salaams all ~ I have said that a quick way to clean silver is with toothpaste, however, there are some pretty effective brands like silvo which also do a good job. The traditional workshops use a burnishing technique that I have already described at http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...omani+khanjars ..see # 26.

Another technique is with lemon juice. Literally squeze one lemon and using the juice and brush (I use a brass wire or copper wire brush) then rinse the object under clean water and repeat where needed... then rinse and dry... job done.

I show a pair of bangles; "Stars of the bedouin" and a pair of ear rings " halaq" (incomplete) one piece of each is cleaned. Silver is quite pure and oxidises quite quickly so the patina will come back in a few months. The wire brush is able to shift the oxide easily but doesn't scratch the silver.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[NovelsRus]

Salaams, Ibrahim,

Long time no talk to! How have you been keeping? How's the shop going? I know you're especially busy this time of year, so I'll try to be brief. Unfortunately, I am a novelist (i.e., a windbag), so please bear with me.

Ibrahim, in your business, do you have much dealing with older copper, bronze, brass or silver materials? I've lately begun collecting ancient Viking relics from the Baltic region, where they first began sailing around raiding their neighbors and acting like outlaw bikers of the sea, back in the 7th Century. As a result, I'm dealing with a lot of truly ancient, long-buried items that are as much as 1200-1300 years old. You can imagine what they look like by the time I see them. Most don't even resemble the items they used to be (jewelry, flints, arrowheads, etc.) I'll attach a couple of Before and After photos of some Viking rings I bought recently, so you can see what these old pieces can turn into after the right amount of massaging, rubbing and begging.

So, my question, good sir, is this: Do you know of any do-it-yourself, home recipes for cleaning ancient bronze, brass or copper? I'm looking for something you can whip together in your own kitchen that's inexpensive, effective, yet gentle (especially on brass). Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance, my friend, for any advice you might have.

Sincerely,

John, i.e., NovelsRus