Arabian sword, new or old? opinions please

[M.carter]

Originally Posted by derek

Good point, Tom! Carter is speaking from experience about exporting though, I'm sure. I found that things move in and out of Dubai without too much trouble, as long as you use courier or freight container (This may have changed recently). If you use Dubai Post its all over. They won't allow anything to leave, and to receive a blade took an act of God (almost, I worked for a guy who worked for Sheikh Mohammed and he dropped a few names at the PO for me). Saudi may be a different matter - Oman is for sure. ESPECIALLY if you are talking about indigenous antique blades. In Oman it is against the law to take old blades out of the country. They are prized over the beautiful work of the jambiya scabbards. The Iranians that I met smuggled swords out of their country by boat at night. The would ride along side a big freight ship crossing the Gulf and literally throw bundled swords to the crew from small boats in the dark. They risked serious trouble if caught. I heard the same about Iraq, but this was before Saddam ran for the spider hole.

Anyway, Carter. you say your blade is new? It looks like these two came from the same "source". Do you know any specifics about where yours came from?

-d

Yeah, exporting (even importting sometimes) is a real pain in some ME (UAE an exception). I always wanted to buy the AT1518 but that would not be allowed in the country im in. Any sharp objects, firearms, airguns, paintball guns, fireworks are not allowed to be imported inside Kuwait, although all these things are readily available inside, which is a real shame, as I cannot buy any sword from ebay or whatever.