Strange yataghan! Russian?

ariel · 15th February 2016, 12:10 PM

No sense looking for some kind of deep meaning of "Asia Minor" vs. "Ottoman".
It is just a lack of uniformity, poor choice of words or faithful but thoughtless adherence to the terminology used on the original accession card.
Even more glaringly: it is described in Russian as a "Yataghan" while in English as a "Scimitar".

I have a pretty big book about Oriental sword collection from the Russian Ethnographic Museum with multiple misattributions, inaccuracies and just primitive mistakes . The publisher sesequently tried to explain them away simply by saying that : 1. They just blindly used the existing museum descriptions; 2. They had only a couple of months to prepare the catalog ; 3. Changing even the silliest error required lengthy bureaucratic process of approval by the museum bonzas; and 4. It is good enough for the masses.

In short, do not dwell on peculiarities of description. I do not remember who said that there is no need suspecting evil intent when just sheer stupidity would suffice:-)

Kubur · 8th August 2016, 10:02 AM

Hi,
I've seen this post yet.
For me your yataghan is from Tunisia.
I can see some similarities with Tunisian straigh daggers but also some pistols - I talk about the hilt / grips.
For the others yataghans (posts 3 & 6), I think they are diplomatic gifts between Algeria and Russia... They remind me some Algerian yataghans in the beautiful book that I forgot the title...
best,
Kubur

15th February 2016, 12:10 PM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	No sense looking for some kind of deep meaning of "Asia Minor" vs. "Ottoman". It is just a lack of uniformity, poor choice of words or faithful but thoughtless adherence to the terminology used on the original accession card. Even more glaringly: it is described in Russian as a "Yataghan" while in English as a "Scimitar". I have a pretty big book about Oriental sword collection from the Russian Ethnographic Museum with multiple misattributions, inaccuracies and just primitive mistakes . The publisher sesequently tried to explain them away simply by saying that : 1. They just blindly used the existing museum descriptions; 2. They had only a couple of months to prepare the catalog ; 3. Changing even the silliest error required lengthy bureaucratic process of approval by the museum bonzas; and 4. It is good enough for the masses. In short, do not dwell on peculiarities of description. I do not remember who said that there is no need suspecting evil intent when just sheer stupidity would suffice:-) Last edited by ariel; 15th February 2016 at 12:31 PM.

8th August 2016, 10:02 AM	#2
Kubur Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 2,145	Hi, I've seen this post yet. For me your yataghan is from Tunisia. I can see some similarities with Tunisian straigh daggers but also some pistols - I talk about the hilt / grips. For the others yataghans (posts 3 & 6), I think they are diplomatic gifts between Algeria and Russia... They remind me some Algerian yataghans in the beautiful book that I forgot the title... best, Kubur