The Omani Khanjar

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Pommel End Photo.

Salaams All,
Here's the scabbard we sourced to match the hilt previously seen at #87...Well here are all the parts ! We just need to fit it all together !! Then the whole ensemble will be cleaned up and at about that point it will begin its journey of acquiring "Patina", however, silver being relatively soft and prone to oxidisation this ought to only take about 6 months.

The scabbard is an Emirati (UAE) Style and favours the very vast expanse of leather showing below the belt ~ though the toe floral decoration is typically Nizwa, Oman, done before the UAE formation when these countries were blended together loosely as one. (Trucial Oman States)(Muscat and Oman)

Afternote ~ The leather is hand tooled in simple floral geometry. Please also note that the central plate wrapped around the hilt midsection is hand decorated silver sheet... but the rest of the silver on the hilt comprises several thousand small silver pins hammered so closely they look like one sheet.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[RhysMichael]

A couple of Thesinger's photos

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by RhysMichael

A couple of Thesinger's photos

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I will dig out some Wilfred Thesiger pictures with Omani Khanjars...The examples shown are probably Yemeni Jambia.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[RhysMichael]

Thank you Ibrahiim I look forward to them

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by RhysMichael

Thank you Ibrahiim I look forward to them

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I met Wilfred 4 times. They called him Mubarrak bil London around here... Here he is wearing an Omani Khanjar which appears to be off the Baatinah coast. ( From the Thesiger Collection by Motivate Publishing ISBN 1 8735 44 316 )

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[BANTARU]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I met Wilfred 4 times. They called him Mubarrak bil London around here... Here he is wearing an Omani Khanjar which appears to be off the Baatinah coast. ( From the Thesiger Collection by Motivate Publishing ISBN 1 8735 44 316 )

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

wow you met him!

Luck you. I wish I could meet him. was it recently (like within 10 years ago), or was it from the times when he used to roam around like a nomad? That guy is like the Lawrence of Arabia of the trucial coast.

btw he was called Umbarak I think.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by BANTARU

wow you met him!

Luck you. I wish I could meet him. was it recently (like within 10 years ago), or was it from the times when he used to roam around like a nomad? That guy is like the Lawrence of Arabia of the trucial coast.

btw he was called Umbarak I think.

Salaams BANTARU ~ Yes Umbarak or Mubarak bil London ... he was the last of the great European explorers after WW 2 in Arabia. He is a legend here. I first met him in about 1989 when he was on a visit here and then several times after that but sadly he died a few years ago in London. Some lady stood up at the first meeting and asked Wilfred what he would change if he could in his lifetime...There was absolute silence ... and he pondered for a moment and said...in his very proper Oxford accent..."The um... Internal combustion engine" ! Wilfred was completely bedouin at heart and would have everyone back on donkeys and camels and never mind the 21st Century !!

I was fortunate to meet him before he died and took him to see a local friend, one of the beni kaab, on his farm near here. Wilfred was very frail and would have the odd flash back to when he was in the same area years ago and spoke to me as he thought I was Bin Gabaisha. There he was .. this amazing old man who had walked/camel ridden the entire rub al Qali several times in the most fiercely hot weather and often hostile surroundings where if he had been caught he would most certainly have been killed. They don't make them like that anymore.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[RhysMichael]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams RhysMichael ~ I met Wilfred 4 times. They called him Mubarrak bil London around here... Here he is wearing an Omani Khanjar which appears to be off the Baatinah coast. ( From the Thesiger Collection by Motivate Publishing ISBN 1 8735 44 316 )

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

I would have loved to have met him and just listened to some of the stories he could have told. To quote Buffett "Our lives change like the weather but a legend never dies" Thanks for posting the picture

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All. A Sandalwood hilt for library. This Khanjar is a Baatinah design similar to #61 and the weapon being made at # 5. The design of the belt link hook assembly is quite unusual.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.