Marsh Arab (Iraqi)? Jambiya

[harrywagner]

Good find Lee. That's a real beauty!

[Kubur]

Hi Guys,

It's really a beautifull dagger!
Tell me if I'm wrong:

I think it's the river Tigris.
And the ruins are the palace of the Sassanian king in ctesiphon.
Just 30km from Bagdad!


Kubur

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Kubur

Hi Guys,

It's really a beautifull dagger!
Tell me if I'm wrong:

I think it's the river Tigris.
And the ruins are the palace of the Sassanian king in ctesiphon.
Just 30km from Bagdad!


Kubur

Kuber, you are right.

PALACE OF SHAPUR I, Ctesiphon, Iraq
The son and successor of Artaxerxes, Shapur I, built a great palace at Ctesiphon, the capital his father had established near modern day Baghdad in Iraq. The central feature of Shapur’s palace was the monumental iwan, or brick audience hall, covered by a vault (here, a deep arch over an oblong space) that came almost to a point of more than 100 feet above the ground. A series of horizontal bands made up of blind arcades (a series of arches without openings, applied as wall decoration) divide the facade to the left and right of the iwan.
The New Persian empire (Sasanian) endured more than 400 years, until the Arabs drove the Sasanians out of Mesopotamia in 636 CE, just four years after the death of Muhammad. But the prestige of Sasanian art and architecture outlasted the empire. A thousand years after Shapur built his palace at Ctesiphon, Islamic architects still considered its soaring iwan as the standing for judging their own engineering feats.

[Lee]

I guess I should have suspected that the scene was of a real place on the basis of it being repeated on several items I have seen, but I failed to make the connection and thank you, Kubur and estcrh, for the image and information.

On eBay I saw other items so decorated, and read that many of the small silver items were made as souvenirs for servicemen in 1915-1918 in Amara (along the Tigris) where there was a British military hospital.

A. alnakkas, I think Nasser had a right to be proud of his work on this piece, though some of the excellent detail may be a result of a larger 'canvas.' I have attached a zoom into one of the pictures above with a bit of contrast enhancement to show the wootz pattern. Considering the quality of the blade, do you think this dagger was made for local use or is it from the higher end of the items made for travelers?

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by Lee

I have attached a zoom into one of the pictures above with a bit of contrast enhancement to show the wootz pattern. Considering the quality of the blade, do you think this dagger was made for local use or is it from the higher end of the items made for travelers?

That steel just looks to good for a tourist item.

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Lee

nakkas, I think Nasser had a right to be proud of his work on this piece, though some of the excellent detail may be a result of a larger 'canvas.' I have attached a zoom into one of the pictures above with a bit of contrast enhancement to show the wootz pattern. Considering the quality of the blade, do you think this dagger was made for local use or is it from the higher end of the items made for travelers?

I wouldnt call these 'tourist' items. While some have flimsy blades, the quality of the silver work is respect worthy. Also, both this type and the Marsh Arab type was used locally.

An interesting thing too I remember Steve Gracie's Jambiya book mentioning an Iraqi silvermaker working in Yemen, his pieces also use the river scene but on Yemeni style jambiyas.

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

I remember Steve Gracie's Jambiya book mentioning an Iraqi silvermaker working in Yemen, his pieces also use the river scene but on Yemeni style jambiyas.

For Oman too
In Hales book, you have an Omani khanjar with Iraki niello work...

[kahnjar1]

I was always of the understanding that the Marsh Arab dagger had a different shaped hilt like the one in this pic.
Perhaps someone could clarify this for me please.

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by Lee

. Considering the quality of the blade, do you think this dagger was made for local use or is it from the higher end of the items made for travelers?

Hi,
It's a serious question.
And I have a different opinion from my colleagues.
Why dissociate higher local users and travelers or tourists?
These objects are from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th c.
There were few tourists and travellers, not like now.
It's clear that the craftmen who did these objects were very skilled and with a deep knowledge. They probably worked for both wealthy local elite and rich travellers. Or even the objects were produced to satisfy both local and travellers. No one can say! I just know that nowadays the techniques are lost or almost and objects for tourists are of a very low quality if not made in China!! My comments can be applied to daggers as Qajar axes and other objets from the end of the 19th c...
Best,
Kubur