The Omani Battle Sword. Sayf Yamaani.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

The Omani Battle Sword...Sayf Yamaani...Suggesting a make location of Hadramaut.

I will try to post larger format... The single sword to right of group is a three dot at the throat blade and one at the tip. On the group picture the right hand weapon also has 3 dots at the throat... perhaps the dots indicate a superior maker...In the case of that sword it is silvered about the hilt ...in rather crude form and in an effort to give the sword the appearance of the Royal Hilt please see #8...from the style brought in by Said The Great (or his wife Sheherazad) All the blades are thick and non flexible with rounded tips...ideal for slash and chop behind a fast shield action ...shield (Terrs) is shown.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Jim McDougall]

Ibrahiim thank you for posting these examples, and it is good to see this thread again and recall the great traction here in discovering more on these swords, their origins, and perspectives on the relationships in the developed forms.
The factor of the triple dots and single toward the tip on the blades is one of those mysterious conundrums in the study of these and a number of other forms that though often evident, is yet to be explained. The strategic placement of these suggests of course some sort of symbolic, perhaps even talismanic application which we can only surmise.

These 'battle swords' as we determined, while used in Omani regions indeed seems to often have been with notable Yemeni associations mostly for the blades, in many cases trade types having entered the southern Arabian peninsula from the west.

[Jens Nordlunde]

I can not get it clear what your pictures shows Ibrahiim, as I cant blow them up, but if I understand Jim correctly there are three dots at the beginning of the fuller, and three dots at the end of the fuller - is that correct?
If this is so, then it is seen on Indian blades as well.
Jens

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Jens Nordlunde

I can not get it clear what your pictures shows Ibrahiim, as I cant blow them up, but if I understand Jim correctly there are three dots at the beginning of the fuller, and three dots at the end of the fuller - is that correct?
If this is so, then it is seen on Indian blades as well.
Jens

Salaams Jens Nordlunde Yes the pictures I have battled with but I will get better pictures of these and the rest of a mixed Arabian Swords numbering perhaps 150 plus weapons..These came in on the phone...The 3 dots are just 3 inches in front of the guard on the blade at the throat . Occasionally only one dot...and I have seen 2 in the same position. A single dot can also be seen at the tip...about half an inch from the end.
I have it that these were to either mark a superior blade or made by a superior craftsman. There is always the possibility as noted by Jim above that these were talismanic ...The single dot being illustrative of the centre of the universe and the talismanic association with the geometric figure 3. There are interestingly three beads dangling from the end of sets of Islamic prayer beads said to prevent the devil climbing up....
I experimented with microsoft word and copying the pictures and placing on word then just expand the single blade and the three dots become visible... untill I can get better pictures...
I note that we have few pictures of these dots, however, at http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=Omani+Swords there is a good 3 dot example on what was a snapped blade and kindly posted by Michael Blalock at #61.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Jim McDougall]

Jens, exactly what I was thinking of, the placement of these three dots at key spots on the blade, I think it was tulwars at the terminus of a fuller, also at key points on the blade (I always thought of point of percussion etc.).
Naturally the thought is toward the trimurti (trinity) but again, only surmised.

With the Arab blades, it seems (per Yucel) that these gold filled holes in the blade were for good fortune or perhaps protection to the swordsman. It is unclear on the numbers as they seem to range from one to several, as well as the location on the blade.

What is interesting is that in North Africa, the most western sector of this trade network of blades, seems to have adopted the placement of filled holes with yellow metal as seen in a number of examples from Sudan into the Sahara. I need to find my notes as well as rechecking Yucel.

While not of course the main topic of this thread, which pertains to the sayf Yemeni overall, as always attending to certain subtopics like this can sometimes provide clues in the diffusion of blades and symbolic elements revealing contact and interaction between cultures.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Jens, exactly what I was thinking of, the placement of these three dots at key spots on the blade, I think it was tulwars at the terminus of a fuller, also at key points on the blade (I always thought of point of percussion etc.).
Naturally the thought is toward the trimurti (trinity) but again, only surmised.

With the Arab blades, it seems (per Yucel) that these gold filled holes in the blade were for good fortune or perhaps protection to the swordsman. It is unclear on the numbers as they seem to range from one to several, as well as the location on the blade.

What is interesting is that in North Africa, the most western sector of this trade network of blades, seems to have adopted the placement of filled holes with yellow metal as seen in a number of examples from Sudan into the Sahara. I need to find my notes as well as rechecking Yucel.

While not of course the main topic of this thread, which pertains to the sayf Yemeni overall, as always attending to certain subtopics like this can sometimes provide clues in the diffusion of blades and symbolic elements revealing contact and interaction between cultures.

Salaams Jim ...I saw a reference on this sword style where it indicates, I Quote"...According to David Alexander, one of the leading experts on Islamic arms and armour where he describes a related sword in the Nasser D.K Khalili Collection in the book "The Arts of War" by David Alexander, swords of this type were used in Oman and the Gulf area from 1000 A.D. until the17th-18th century and can be seen in early Arab paintings such as a miniature in a copy of the Maqamat of al-Hariri..."Unquote, however, I couldn't find the painting...of the miniature....

I don't altogether agree with the 18th C since we know the sword was in use after that as it is seen in a sketch of Sultan Bargash and in fact with the current Ruler ...in use certainly in the later case in its Royal Hilt form. Perhaps the reference above suggests that its use in wars was of those dates but there is no proof that it stopped being used after the 18th C.

I also question its start date as 11 th Century as it is not tied to anything ...and in which case simply would need to have appeared from nowhere? The earlier date is far more logical being tied to the former Abassiid style seen at the Topkapi and coincides with the first Imam of Oman Ibn Julanda in 751 ad... though my thought is that if it has origins in a Sword of the Prophet it may well be from around 600 ad...and certainly not the late appearance 400 years after....out of the blue...so to speak! In short I suggest that this weapon is by its very nature an Iconic Islamic Battlesword whos design stretches back to the 7th Century after which it froze...design wise until the mid 19th C when its hilt was redesigned with a Royal Hilt (but by no means in all cases) and even appears today as such...see earlier post at #69.

Could this weapon have been either introduced in 630 ad when Oman was converted en masse ...or by the exiled from Iraq Jabr Ibn Zayd who died in 711 ad and was a great leader from Nizwa region.....or by the first Imam of Oman in 751 ad ~I leave those questions penciled in the margin.

I remind readers that the absence of weapons in graves follows the tradition that items were and are not buried with bodies(in this case regrettably!) thus no sword has yet been found in a burial site save one apparently that was unearthed in Jebal Akhdar a few hundred years ago...

See an astonishing example with cartouche (I couldnt decipher) at http://www.trocadero.com/101antiques...tem747179.html Note the octagonal hilt and pommel as well as the three holes in the hilt...and the detail of zig zag decoration vvvvvvv on the cuff. Help is requested for a translation of that.

So that students of Islamic Arms and Armour can more easily see the relevant references I include from the above website Quote" REFERENSES:Askeri Museum Istanbul Turkey.inv.nos.2382 and 7620; for the latter see Alexandr 1985,no75 and Fig.4;other examples include Topkapi Sarayi Museum ,Istanbul,no1/2765;Wallace Collection, London England ,no1796;The Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York,no1987.43;and Splendeur des armes orientales 1988,no11 and Elgood, 1994,nos 2.13 and 2.15..MEASUREMENTS: The overall length is 87.7 cm (34 ½ in). Width of the blade at the widest point: 5.4 cm (2 1/16 inches)"Unquote.

As a finishing note please consider the name ...Sayf Yamaani. Omani names for weapons stuck... never changed... for example the Omani long gun.. Abu Futtila...thus in the naming of this sword Sayf Yamaani could this be an indicator for origin of manufacture; Hadramaut in Yemen.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All..Please see #1.

I wrote at #1 of a comparison with swords from Topkapi...and with the Omani Battle Sword "The Sayf Yamaani" that this thread discusses. Here are examples of those Topkapi weapons. So far as I am aware there are no weapons of Umayyid type ~these are Abassiid. I place Omani Battle Swords for reference..or others on this thread may be considered.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.