Afghan/Khyber Knife

Norman McCormick · 28th September 2019, 02:23 PM

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your insights. I have attached a few more photos. The scales are not as white as they appear, more yellow in hand (my poor photography no doubt!) I have attached a photo that may give a better sense of scale. It's a big old knife more dirk sized. Thanks again.
My Regards,
Norman.

kai · 28th September 2019, 02:57 PM

Hello Norman,

Looks like walrus to me...

Elegant blade and length at the shorter range of the spectrum.

Regards,
Kai

Ren Ren · 28th September 2019, 04:26 PM

I don’t think it is a walrus. It is very possible that it is a camel.

ariel · 28th September 2019, 05:46 PM

Camel, horse, cow, but not walrus or elephant.
It is a Khyber, only short. Stone mentions blade length between 14-30". I have one ( wootz) with the blade of 11.5", one 16" and one 34.5". They were handmade and there were no prescribed dimensions. Whatever the owner wanted.
The difference between them and ch'hura is that the latter has a sudden narrowing of the blade right at the ricasso and narrowing further to a needle point : ch'hura is a purely stabbing weapon, khyber ( selawa) is a slashing/stabbing one, kind of like a Bowie. You certainly can put it in a dirk category.

Ren Ren · 28th September 2019, 09:29 PM

The surface of the camel's bone is covered with a dense grid of small parallel strokes. There are similar strokes on the bone surface of cows and buffaloes, but this grid is much wider.

Jens Nordlunde · 28th September 2019, 09:41 PM

Ren Ren - funny name you have chosen - my name is Jens, but never mind.
What I would like to know is, why do you think is is from a camel? Could it not be from a cow, or from another animal?

Ren Ren · 28th September 2019, 10:49 PM

Hi Jens! My own name is Sergey

and I know that it is even funnier for English-speaking people. I took the Ren Ren nickname many years ago at the Sinologists forum, where I was led by interest in Chinese weapons. In Chinese 刃人 means Blademan.

I do not insist that it is certainly a camel bone. To confirm this, I need to see the object with my own eyes. But looking at the photo it seemed to me that a dense grid of small parallel cracks is present. And I wanted to draw attention to this. First of all, the attention of the owner of this nice khyber knife.

28th September 2019, 02:23 PM	#1
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,613	Hi Guys, Thanks for your insights. I have attached a few more photos. The scales are not as white as they appear, more yellow in hand (my poor photography no doubt!) I have attached a photo that may give a better sense of scale. It's a big old knife more dirk sized. Thanks again. My Regards, Norman. Attached Images

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28th September 2019, 02:57 PM	#2
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Norman, Looks like walrus to me... Elegant blade and length at the shorter range of the spectrum. Regards, Kai

28th September 2019, 04:26 PM	#3
Ren Ren Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Russia, Moscow Posts: 379	I don’t think it is a walrus. It is very possible that it is a camel.

28th September 2019, 05:46 PM	#4
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Camel, horse, cow, but not walrus or elephant. It is a Khyber, only short. Stone mentions blade length between 14-30". I have one ( wootz) with the blade of 11.5", one 16" and one 34.5". They were handmade and there were no prescribed dimensions. Whatever the owner wanted. The difference between them and ch'hura is that the latter has a sudden narrowing of the blade right at the ricasso and narrowing further to a needle point : ch'hura is a purely stabbing weapon, khyber ( selawa) is a slashing/stabbing one, kind of like a Bowie. You certainly can put it in a dirk category.

28th September 2019, 09:29 PM	#5
Ren Ren Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Russia, Moscow Posts: 379	The surface of the camel's bone is covered with a dense grid of small parallel strokes. There are similar strokes on the bone surface of cows and buffaloes, but this grid is much wider.

28th September 2019, 09:41 PM	#6
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Ren Ren - funny name you have chosen - my name is Jens, but never mind. What I would like to know is, why do you think is is from a camel? Could it not be from a cow, or from another animal?

28th September 2019, 10:49 PM	#7
Ren Ren Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Russia, Moscow Posts: 379	Hi Jens! My own name is Sergey and I know that it is even funnier for English-speaking people. I took the Ren Ren nickname many years ago at the Sinologists forum, where I was led by interest in Chinese weapons. In Chinese 刃人 means Blademan. I do not insist that it is certainly a camel bone. To confirm this, I need to see the object with my own eyes. But looking at the photo it seemed to me that a dense grid of small parallel cracks is present. And I wanted to draw attention to this. First of all, the attention of the owner of this nice khyber knife.