Shabria Dagger

tom hyle · 2nd April 2005, 08:58 PM

Probably post- Certainly no real comparison is to be made to the decorator khoumiyas with the flat "tin" blades snipped out of sheet metal. This sort of dagger is sold initially by a cutler, and though numbers of them certainly are bought by foreigners either from the cutlers or on the secondary market, I am unable to comprehend the viewing of this process in a different light than with a German or Itallian knife; the whole concept of the "tourist knife" is overplayed, and perhaps rather ethnocentric, IMHO, with modern using and decorator pieces for native consumption often improperly painted with the brush. I usually consider "decorator" or similar terms more accurate for the useless wallhanging type items, but I certainly consider these shabrias as using daggers. Certainly in modern times they see less use than their ancestors, much as with the stacked-handle Spanish colonial/Mediterranean dirks we recently discussed, but this does not imply an entirely vestigial weapon/tool. Many rural N Americans carry "hunting knives" as they often term them; bowie knives usually; I'm not sure why people think the knife is a "dead" or obsolete artifact; it's something to do with industrial city culture that predisposes toward this ideation, which isn't even valid or fully accepted within that culture.

Aurangzeb · 3rd April 2005, 12:39 AM

Hi Tom!

Thanks for all the help with my dagger! I have one of those useless decorator koummyas it is as sharp as a butter knife(if not duller). Your certinaly right about the "hunting knife" out here in rural PA just about everybody has at least one dagger/knife for hunting,work,etc. My work knife is a Iraqi AK-47 bayonet!

But how do you think the english writing on the throt of my dagger came about in a country of people who speak arabic and hebrew?My idea is it was a old can just made into a dagger in modern times.So is a Islamic not Hebrew weapon.I am suprised th st use silver not tin or other metal and real horn to hold the blade in place not plastic like my other two.

Thanks again for the help with my dagger!!

3rd April 2005, 12:39 AM	#2
Aurangzeb Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 306	THanks! Hi Tom! Thanks for all the help with my dagger! I have one of those useless decorator koummyas it is as sharp as a butter knife(if not duller). Your certinaly right about the "hunting knife" out here in rural PA just about everybody has at least one dagger/knife for hunting,work,etc. My work knife is a Iraqi AK-47 bayonet! But how do you think the english writing on the throt of my dagger came about in a country of people who speak arabic and hebrew?My idea is it was a old can just made into a dagger in modern times.So is a Islamic not Hebrew weapon.I am suprised th st use silver not tin or other metal and real horn to hold the blade in place not plastic like my other two. Thanks again for the help with my dagger!! Last edited by Aurangzeb; 3rd April 2005 at 01:13 AM.

2nd April 2005, 08:58 PM	#1
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Probably post- Certainly no real comparison is to be made to the decorator khoumiyas with the flat "tin" blades snipped out of sheet metal. This sort of dagger is sold initially by a cutler, and though numbers of them certainly are bought by foreigners either from the cutlers or on the secondary market, I am unable to comprehend the viewing of this process in a different light than with a German or Itallian knife; the whole concept of the "tourist knife" is overplayed, and perhaps rather ethnocentric, IMHO, with modern using and decorator pieces for native consumption often improperly painted with the brush. I usually consider "decorator" or similar terms more accurate for the useless wallhanging type items, but I certainly consider these shabrias as using daggers. Certainly in modern times they see less use than their ancestors, much as with the stacked-handle Spanish colonial/Mediterranean dirks we recently discussed, but this does not imply an entirely vestigial weapon/tool. Many rural N Americans carry "hunting knives" as they often term them; bowie knives usually; I'm not sure why people think the knife is a "dead" or obsolete artifact; it's something to do with industrial city culture that predisposes toward this ideation, which isn't even valid or fully accepted within that culture.