Best Arabic Shamshir/Dagger reference book, please?

ALEX · 25th April 2006, 05:04 PM

Jim,

First and foremost - thank you for your comprehensive response. It helps a lot.
Similarly to revived art of wootz forging, the art of making the rest, i.e. scabbards, crossguards and hilts is catching up (and forging is a good term to use here).

M.C. as for Syria as being a great place to learn, I'd say it's a great place to learn commerce, not swords. ALL dealers will "teach" into buying what they want to sell. ALL of them making swords by mixing old blades with another old or semi-old, and most frequently newly made parts, and they know how to make them look old. And the stories are even more amazing than the wootz itself. Just a few tiny shops have real nice Persian wootz blades - all are for Saudi market, or for unreasonable price. That is why I am looking for a good reference book. It'll not help anyway (those guys use them as reference as well), but I'd rather read it from someone who knows than hear it from someone who sells.

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25th April 2006, 05:04 PM	#6
ALEX Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 936	Jim, First and foremost - thank you for your comprehensive response. It helps a lot. Similarly to revived art of wootz forging, the art of making the rest, i.e. scabbards, crossguards and hilts is catching up (and forging is a good term to use here). M.C. as for Syria as being a great place to learn, I'd say it's a great place to learn commerce, not swords. ALL dealers will "teach" into buying what they want to sell. ALL of them making swords by mixing old blades with another old or semi-old, and most frequently newly made parts, and they know how to make them look old. And the stories are even more amazing than the wootz itself. Just a few tiny shops have real nice Persian wootz blades - all are for Saudi market, or for unreasonable price. That is why I am looking for a good reference book. It'll not help anyway (those guys use them as reference as well), but I'd rather read it from someone who knows than hear it from someone who sells.