The Yemen Jambiya.

[SullyAtooly]

Hello all. For all Yemeni Jambiya lovers. I am living in Yemen and am the proud owner of multiple very unique Yemeni Sayfani Jambiyah’s. If you would like to share collections or have questions while I am here in living abroad in Yemen. Also for Yemeni Jambiyah fans I have knowledge and availability to different styles and hilt materials.

[Battara]

Perhaps you could post some here for discussion.

[Ian]

Hello Sully Atooly.

Welcome to the Ethnographic Forum. Yemeni jambiya have been a subject of discussion here in the past, and there is already a large thread on this subject. I hope you can add to our understanding of these interesting knives.

Please make sure that you read the rules and requirements for this Forum. In particular, as with all of the discussion forums, this one does not permit discussion of items for sale. The offering of items for sale needs to appear in the Swap Forum. However, posts to Swap are limited to full members of the site. New members, such as yourself, must pass through a probationary period of posting and understand the purpose of the forums. The discussion forums are, as the name implies, for discussion of the weapons—their characteristics, history, significance and use among the indigenous culture, etc. Our main purpose is to discuss the weapons and to create an archive that is useful for those who collect them or otherwise want to know more about them.

As a way of introducing yourself to the members here, I echo battara's suggestion that you post some of your jambiya for discussion. You will find a sticky thread at the top of the forum contents page that outlines the nature and quality of pictures that we suggest accompany your descriptions.

Please do NOT indicate which, if any, of the knives you post for discussion are for sale. Such a post would be edited/deleted immediately and your ability to post anything here could be suspended for several months or permanently terminated.

Kind regards,

Ian
Vikingsword staff

[SullyAtooly]

Ian, thank you for taking the time to explain how this forum and community works and I respectfully apologize for my ignorance. I will do best to align my interactions with respect and adhering to community rules. My excitement for the best of me and since I am living in Yemen I thought with my access to knowledge and resources I can be of help to anyone in regards to jambiyah identification with the Old Souk of Sanaa full of experts at my disposal. Thank you for your patience
-Sully

[SullyAtooly]

Ian should I continue on this post or post on already older threads?

[Ian]

Hi SullyAtooly,

Please continue on this one now that you have started. We can always combine them later if that seems like a good idea.

Regards,
Ian

[SullyAtooly]

Alright so the first Jambiya I own is what is traditionally referred as Sayfani Al-Assadi. From my knowledge while living here in Sanaa, and visiting the Old Souqs, and from what I have told here by elders, is that 1 I should never wear it in public because of the attention this Jambiyah brings along with possible dangers. So I am very cautious. This Jambiya style is of one of the most sought after and prized styles.

Over a very long period of time, the greenish color of an Al-Assadi handle is a rarer and even more prestigious coloration that occurs naturally as the ivory ages.

This Jambiya also is dressed with the prestigious style of gold disks referred to “Dahab Himyari.”The blade is hand-forged with a round midrib consistent with pre 20th century Jambiyahs.

It may possibly have been made with Wootz or Damascus steel. But I would need more input on that from anyone on the form with the knowledge.

Based on years of research in Yemen itself and using AI. I am finding this jambiya may be from the late 18th century to Mid 19th. Which is consistent with the information that was presented to us when my father obtained this piece in the mid 90s. He was told at that time, this Jambiya dates back over 200 years.

Would love any input from the forum and thank you for your time

[Ian]

Thanks Sully. A nice looking jambiya. It is in amazing condition for its reported age. Middle eastern weapons are not my area of primary interest, so I'm afraid I can't give you an informed response. However, based on the pictures of the blade that you have posted, I think the blade is unlikely to be wootz.

Could you show us a picture of the full length of the knife next to the sheath?

Regards, Ian.

[DaveA]

Hello,

Welcome Sully! Very interesting to see your jambiya, an older example. I very much like to hear the stories told to you by the elders.

For comparison, here is my ‘aseeb (assib) janbiya with a “saifani" horn hilt from Yemen c. mid-20th C. The color of the hilt is lighter than yours although both have the beautiful translucent green/yellow tint.

The coins on the hilt are brass imitations of silver Venetian ducats. Originals (pre-1948) are prized for their conference of special status upon the owner.

Dave A.

[Ian]

Thanks Dave. DO you have an age estimate for your example.

Sully, Dave has pointed to the "coins" of brass on the hilt. Perhaps it is just the light and careful polishing, but yours have a "golden" glow and I wonder whether you have had the metal tested for its gold content. Also, the metal decorations on the back of your hilt look as though they may be silver. Even if its low-grade gold or silver, I think that points to a prestigious piece. I suspect the pins are also silver on the front of the hilt, as well as the band on the throat of the scabbard.

With regard to the scabbard, this seems a plain (yet apparently traditional) dress for a prestigious piece. Do you know what type of leather was used?

Regards, Ian

[DaveA]

Ian,

On my hilt pins are steel and the strip at the base of the hilt is silver. I do not have a firm data-driven estimate of the date, only what the seller has told me. The saifani hilt gets darker with time, but regular handling is also required. Yemeni men often rest their hands on the hilt of the jambiya so that confounds the dating.

Attached is a photo of fake Venetian ducats in the British Museum. There is quite a bit of history related to their use as decoration on edged weapons. Steve Gracie discusses them in his book about Yemeni Jambiya, page 193.

Dave

[SullyAtooly]

Thanks for sharing David.
In regards to your Jambiya, I’d have to ask, where you told it’s Sayfani when you bought it? No disrespect but there’s a few things that Ian pointed out that are leading to what I’m concluding here.
Sayfani is the name of a family that were involved in the Jambiya trade, they name the style of the Jambiya after them. Sayfani today is used very loosely, even in Yemen, locals tend to identify any Jambiya that is made using Rhino Horn. Which isn’t technically true. Most likely since they were one of the largest and more recent Jambiya dealers going back many many years. Sayfani, Azari, and Assadi with Assadi being the oldest of the 3 are the top guys when talking about Rhino Hilts in Yemen today. They each had their own distinctive properties in regards to what part of the horn they used when crafting their hilts. Basically a trademark to identify their skill. After Yemen started to crack down on the rhino horn trade, many jambiya dealers started to turn to Buffalo, Ram, and African Gazelle horn to use as the primary material. Especially Azari style jambiyas. Unfortunately many modern Jambiya dealers especially from the late 1950s and up even tried to find ways to imitate the Rhino Horn and stamp one of the names of the above families to it. The biggest ripoff was when they used what is know as “Hoof Al Jamal” or Camel hoof. I actually have one that was bought in the early 1990s. The Hoof al Jamal when first produced had extremely close resemblance to Rhino and was sold for A LOT more than its actual worth to those who were not familiar with Rhino Hilts. Especially dealers from cities outside of Sanaa like Dahmar. After a few years the hilt started to disintegrate where the silver filigree is placed and the owner would go to try to save it just to find out that they encountered a dishonest seller.

In regards to your jambiyah, I’m pretty confident that it is not “Sayfani” horn in the way I think you’re identifying it as.
3 strong telltale indicators right off the bat to a person who’s been around Sayfani hits are clearly visible with yours.

The first is the hilt itself. It’s not translucent nor does it show the famous fiber like structure the in the areas of authentic Sayfani. Imitation style of how he made his hilts and looks more like Cattle Horn was used here. Which is called “Kraak” in Yemen
Secondly, the brass disks. With authentic Rhino Horn jambiyas, brass wouldn’t traditionally be used because it devalues the entire Jambiya and its status. Sometimes people replaced their gold disk for cheaper material due to increase in theft after the ban on Rhino Horn in Yemen others sold it when in need idk but that’s the stories here in Yemen. Most High end jambiyas use very pure gold has been designed to imitate a certain age in Yemen’s history. Like mine, the gold pieces are made of high purity gold that were designed to empathize the roots of the owner showing long family history to the land in Yemen, status, and prestige of the Jambiya owner. Basically inspired by the Hamyari Gold coins from way back.

Thirdly the blade itself looks very modern.

I can post my other Jambiya that is decorated with 2 1911 George V Half Sovereign St. George Dragon pieces if you’d like.

[SullyAtooly]

Dave, this is based on what I can see from the photos and my apologies if I’m not seeing it properly. Here’s a photo of a very similar Jambiya that’s material used is closer to yours it’s a what is called in Yemen "جمبية مصوعي" Masowai made from natural horn. Most likely buffalo not really sure unless I have it in my hand. Copy and paste the Arabic into TikTok or YouTube to see more examples. Here a photo of one’s that’s sold in today’s market in Sanaa Yemen.