A koummya- and contexts

RobT · 3rd April 2025, 01:10 AM

Hi All,

There are three koummya shown in this thread that have hilts made of a material other than wood.
Jim McDougall’s example, made of camel bone, has very slight quillons made of metal. I can’t see whether or not there are slight projections of bone on the sides of the hilt under the metal.
Pertinax shows another bone hilt with metal quillons. Again, it is impossible to see what is under the metal clearly. Could it be a separate piece of bone laid crossways to the hilt to fill in the area below the metal?
Marc M. shows a hilt that appears to be ivory. The hilt has two tiny quillon stubs
Could it be that the lack of quillons is caused by not having enough hilt material to make them? Since all three examples appear to be from the 20th century, it is very likely that their appearance rather than functional capability was the important consideration.

Pertinax,
Thanks for the link to Armes Anciennes du Maroc. I downloaded the PDF and will try to get a translation. I can puzzle out a little bit of French and it seems that the author makes a clear distinction between what he calls khanjar and what he calls koummya. Since the khanjar vs koummya designation has been a subject of debate on this forum, I hope that a translation of the French will shed some more light on the matter.

Sincerely,
RobT

Jim McDougall · 3rd April 2025, 02:07 AM

Rob good thought!
There is slight projection of bone under metal, so it seems the bone was carved out and the metal covered.

Pertinax · 3rd April 2025, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobT

Hi All,

Pertinax,
Thanks for the link to Armes Anciennes du Maroc. I downloaded the PDF and will try to get a translation. I can puzzle out a little bit of French and it seems that the author makes a clear distinction between what he calls khanjar and what he calls koummya. Since the khanjar vs koummya designation has been a subject of debate on this forum, I hope that a translation of the French will shed some more light on the matter.

Sincerely,
RobT

Hi RobT!

I convert PDF documents to Word using ABBYY Fine Reader 15, and then translate the text. It doesn't turn out quite right, but then I make corrections.

Best regards,
Yuri

3rd April 2025, 01:10 AM	#1
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 535	Hilt Matter, Khanjar vs Koummya Hi All, There are three koummya shown in this thread that have hilts made of a material other than wood. Jim McDougall’s example, made of camel bone, has very slight quillons made of metal. I can’t see whether or not there are slight projections of bone on the sides of the hilt under the metal. Pertinax shows another bone hilt with metal quillons. Again, it is impossible to see what is under the metal clearly. Could it be a separate piece of bone laid crossways to the hilt to fill in the area below the metal? Marc M. shows a hilt that appears to be ivory. The hilt has two tiny quillon stubs Could it be that the lack of quillons is caused by not having enough hilt material to make them? Since all three examples appear to be from the 20th century, it is very likely that their appearance rather than functional capability was the important consideration. Pertinax, Thanks for the link to Armes Anciennes du Maroc. I downloaded the PDF and will try to get a translation. I can puzzle out a little bit of French and it seems that the author makes a clear distinction between what he calls khanjar and what he calls koummya. Since the khanjar vs koummya designation has been a subject of debate on this forum, I hope that a translation of the French will shed some more light on the matter. Sincerely, RobT

3rd April 2025, 02:07 AM	#2
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,192	Rob good thought! There is slight projection of bone under metal, so it seems the bone was carved out and the metal covered.