Kattara for comments

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 12th June 2012, 05:00 PM

Salaams All ~ I was backtracking through the library and ran into something on Omani Saifs #7 by Jens Nordelunde an absolute master of Indian weapons in particular and noted his excellent addition to this debate which I now include on this thread~

Quote "Besides all the blades made in the region, they had a big import of blades and ingots from other countries, India being one of them.
With your interest of old blades from the region I think you will enjoy this book - Hoyland, Robert G. and Gilmoure, Brian: Medieval Islamic Swords and Swordmaking. Kindi’s treatise ‘On swords and their kinds’. Gibb Memorial Trust, London, 2006.

In the book the authors tell of the very famous Yemen blade, and a lot of other interesting things about blades." Unquote.

I don't have the reference.. but if anyone has it (and I am searching the web) please help in reference to this so called famous Yemeni blade which may be the link to the Old Omani Battle Sword blade. AKA "Sayf Yamaani"

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 26th June 2012, 09:40 AM

Salaams All ~ Note to Forum; High quality silver craftsmanship is still being done today on new Omani swords; take for example this straight dancing sword: The Omani Sayf. Likely provenance is Musandam. Chromed blade stamped on one face with a Crown (locals call Taj) and the other ...a lion with sword raised. Triple fullered. (Thulatha Musayl.)
A sword similar to this can be seen at Bait al Zubair museum in Muscat.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 12th July 2012, 07:18 AM

Salaams All, Now is perhaps a good time to raise the question about those swords at # 1, 28, 47,81, and 144 that defy description as Omani swords but which cry with another voice... Schiavona!!

They are thicker swords which do not easily bend to 90 degrees yet they are two edged probably culminating in a point. Some fullering. Rehilted. These are red sea variants or at least so it seems... however, that can be misleading as they could have drifted in from Italy or Venice and were rehilted in Ethiopian or Arabia or Yemen.

There is another thread with museum swords from Saudia and Yemen..on http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ilitary+museum

See #1 in particular the second foto right hand blade in glass frame. This thread and #1 first foto is also the source of one of the swords at para 1 above.

Currently on forum are some excellent threads on Schiavona both on the European and Ethnographic Forums ~ It seems like a good time to float the idea of Red Sea Schiavona.

Comments welcome please.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 13th July 2012, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams All, Now is perhaps a good time to raise the question about those swords at # 1, 28, 47,81, and 144 that defy description as Omani swords but which cry with another voice... Schiavona!!

They are thicker swords which do not easily bend to 90 degrees yet they are two edged probably culminating in a point. Some fullering. Rehilted. These are red sea variants or at least so it seems... however, that can be misleading as they could have drifted in from Italy or Venice and were rehilted in Ethiopian or Arabia or Yemen.

There is another thread with museum swords from Saudia and Yemen..on http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ilitary+museum

See #1 in particular the second foto right hand blade in glass frame. This thread and #1 first foto is also the source of one of the swords at para 1 above.

Currently on forum are some excellent threads on Schiavona both on the European and Ethnographic Forums ~ It seems like a good time to float the idea of Red Sea Schiavona.

Comments welcome please.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Salaams all ~ The thread to which I draw attention is INTERESTING Ottoman (?) sword.... very old... comments? or just press ...http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...d=1#post142373

There is a great discussion of Schiavona on the European at http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14049 by Vandoo which has magnificent photographs of two edged Schiavona.

I intend to show just cause for the transmission of these blades down the Red Sea.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Al Shamal · 30th October 2012, 01:43 PM

Salam,

I am new to the forum and hope that it is ok to post on this thread. I would like to submit an interesting Kattara i have for comments. See attached photos. The vendor told me it was from RAK (Ras Al Khamiah) and had been in his possession for more than 20 years. The overall length of the sword is 810mm (tip to hilt), with the blade being 645mm long by 20mm at the widest part. The thickness across the back of the blade is 4mm at the widest part. Whilst i have seen similar larger style swords in the UAE/Oman region, i haven’t seen anything this small in size, so would be interested in the forums opinions on origin, use and age, etc

Ibrahiim al Balooshi · 2nd November 2012, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Shamal

Salam,

I am new to the forum and hope that it is ok to post on this thread. I would like to submit an interesting Kattara i have for comments. See attached photos. The vendor told me it was from RAK (Ras Al Khamiah) and had been in his possession for more than 20 years. The overall length of the sword is 810mm (tip to hilt), with the blade being 645mm long by 20mm at the widest part. The thickness across the back of the blade is 4mm at the widest part. Whilst i have seen similar larger style swords in the UAE/Oman region, i haven’t seen anything this small in size, so would be interested in the forums opinions on origin, use and age, etc

Salaams Al Shamal~ Welcome to the forum!! and thanks for putting this one on here ... This is a Mussandam rehash. I thought at first glance it could have been an attampt at a Flyyssa? The Sword maker has reground the blade giving a rather peculiar shape; retaining the heavy back edge and playing with the cutting edge ...Could this have been a straight blade? The scabbard toe in what looks like brass appears to be European in design but could be Indian Russian or Chinese...nothing like widening the field !! The decoration otherwise to scabbard and hilt are Omani work typical of The Mussandam. It's curved now so it falls more to the category weapon(Kattara) than dancing sword (straight Sayf). Sword workshops in Oman are certainly capable of modifying weapons and I was just in Muscat where I saw a lot of this going on.
The Mussandam crew, however, are famous for doing this.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

26th June 2012, 09:40 AM	#2
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Salaams All ~ Note to Forum; High quality silver craftsmanship is still being done today on new Omani swords; take for example this straight dancing sword: The Omani Sayf. Likely provenance is Musandam. Chromed blade stamped on one face with a Crown (locals call Taj) and the other ...a lion with sword raised. Triple fullered. (Thulatha Musayl.) A sword similar to this can be seen at Bait al Zubair museum in Muscat. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Attached Images Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 26th June 2012 at 09:53 AM.

12th July 2012, 07:18 AM	#3
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Salaams All, Now is perhaps a good time to raise the question about those swords at # 1, 28, 47,81, and 144 that defy description as Omani swords but which cry with another voice... Schiavona!! They are thicker swords which do not easily bend to 90 degrees yet they are two edged probably culminating in a point. Some fullering. Rehilted. These are red sea variants or at least so it seems... however, that can be misleading as they could have drifted in from Italy or Venice and were rehilted in Ethiopian or Arabia or Yemen. There is another thread with museum swords from Saudia and Yemen..on http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ilitary+museum See #1 in particular the second foto right hand blade in glass frame. This thread and #1 first foto is also the source of one of the swords at para 1 above. Currently on forum are some excellent threads on Schiavona both on the European and Ethnographic Forums ~ It seems like a good time to float the idea of Red Sea Schiavona. Comments welcome please. Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi. Last edited by Ibrahiim al Balooshi; 12th July 2012 at 09:27 AM.

30th October 2012, 01:43 PM	#5
Al Shamal Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: UAE Posts: 32	RAK Kattara Salam, I am new to the forum and hope that it is ok to post on this thread. I would like to submit an interesting Kattara i have for comments. See attached photos. The vendor told me it was from RAK (Ras Al Khamiah) and had been in his possession for more than 20 years. The overall length of the sword is 810mm (tip to hilt), with the blade being 645mm long by 20mm at the widest part. The thickness across the back of the blade is 4mm at the widest part. Whilst i have seen similar larger style swords in the UAE/Oman region, i haven’t seen anything this small in size, so would be interested in the forums opinions on origin, use and age, etc Attached Images

12th June 2012, 05:00 PM	#1
Ibrahiim al Balooshi Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buraimi Oman, on the border with the UAE Posts: 4,408	Salaams All ~ I was backtracking through the library and ran into something on Omani Saifs #7 by Jens Nordelunde an absolute master of Indian weapons in particular and noted his excellent addition to this debate which I now include on this thread~ Quote "Besides all the blades made in the region, they had a big import of blades and ingots from other countries, India being one of them. With your interest of old blades from the region I think you will enjoy this book - Hoyland, Robert G. and Gilmoure, Brian: Medieval Islamic Swords and Swordmaking. Kindi’s treatise ‘On swords and their kinds’. Gibb Memorial Trust, London, 2006. In the book the authors tell of the very famous Yemen blade, and a lot of other interesting things about blades." Unquote. I don't have the reference.. but if anyone has it (and I am searching the web) please help in reference to this so called famous Yemeni blade which may be the link to the Old Omani Battle Sword blade. AKA "Sayf Yamaani" Regards, Ibrahiim al Balooshi.