Where are they from?:-)))

ariel · 3rd February 2017, 04:56 PM

Turkmen.

The one on the left was extensively discussed quite some time ago on a Russian forum
http://forum.guns.ru/forummessage/79/1724159-5.html

They also discussed Kurdish, Syrian etc. origins , but all was based on "personal gut feelings". For me the most persuasive argument was a book page from a German book, where this construction of the handle was attributed to Northern Afghanistan ( likely Turkmen territory), Teke tribe. See also Alex's reference to identical knives attributed to Turkmenistan by Artzi Yarom and AshokaArts.

The "khyber" like knife can be attributed with higher degree of precision: see picture taken from an article by Yu. Botyakov and V. Yanborisov " Turkmeni Weapons"
The leftmost 4 images contain a picture of an identical dagger. They belong to the largest Turkmen tribe Teke, concentrating in the south of the countru, on the border with Afghanistan. Please pay attention to the pommel: just a cap. Very reminiscent to the handles on the earliest Ottoman yataghans of Bayazet and Suleiman and later Uzbek royal examples.
Equally intriguing, IMHO, is the rightmost image : "eared" pommel. This is a Saryk knife. Boldly assuming that this feature is of ancestral origin ( I am skating on a thin ice here!) , can we tie it to the classical yataghan characteristics?

3rd February 2017, 04:56 PM	#9
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Turkmen. The one on the left was extensively discussed quite some time ago on a Russian forum http://forum.guns.ru/forummessage/79/1724159-5.html They also discussed Kurdish, Syrian etc. origins , but all was based on "personal gut feelings". For me the most persuasive argument was a book page from a German book, where this construction of the handle was attributed to Northern Afghanistan ( likely Turkmen territory), Teke tribe. See also Alex's reference to identical knives attributed to Turkmenistan by Artzi Yarom and AshokaArts. The "khyber" like knife can be attributed with higher degree of precision: see picture taken from an article by Yu. Botyakov and V. Yanborisov " Turkmeni Weapons" The leftmost 4 images contain a picture of an identical dagger. They belong to the largest Turkmen tribe Teke, concentrating in the south of the countru, on the border with Afghanistan. Please pay attention to the pommel: just a cap. Very reminiscent to the handles on the earliest Ottoman yataghans of Bayazet and Suleiman and later Uzbek royal examples. Equally intriguing, IMHO, is the rightmost image : "eared" pommel. This is a Saryk knife. Boldly assuming that this feature is of ancestral origin ( I am skating on a thin ice here!) , can we tie it to the classical yataghan characteristics? Attached Images