Relief-engraved shamshir

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by SwordLover79

... I assume this was a ceremonial or decorative sword given all of the decoration and engraving...

One sign - Has it been sharpened? If not it's likely a status/parade piece.

[werecow]

Originally Posted by kronckew

One sign - Has it been sharpened? If not it's likely a status/parade piece.

Not to derail the thread, but is that true for kindjals from the Caucasian region as well? I have an unsharpened one, but I always kind of assumed that that was mainly because it is more thrust oriented.

[SwordLover79]

Excellent insights! The blade has not been sharpened. Can I assume that the writing on the blade is an excerpt from the Koran?

[ariel]

Caucasian ethnicities had very different moral rules toward kinjal usage. Generally, stabbing was permitted only against certain opponents: animals ( that's easy), self-defence against enemies, fight with a horse thief etc.
That is reflected, for example, in kinjals from Guria: those are massive, long, broad and heavy with somewhat blunted abris of the point. They are in effect very short swords excellent for chopping, but poor for stabbing.
However, in the neighbouring Samegrelo, kinjals are narrow , with elongated "needle point" point ( pun not intended), ideal for stabbing, but poor choppers. Meghrels had very little, if any, restriction on stabbing.

Khevsurs had long and massive kinjals with razor-sharp edges and sharp points, but stabbing was frowned upon: it was considered a mark of a thief.
Go figure.

Generally, however, all of them had maximally sharpened edges. Modern souvenirs are sold blunt.

[werecow]

It doesn't strike me as a modern souvenir (though I could see the scabbard being a replacement), but I could be wrong of course. It wouldn't be my first oopsie.