Arabian/Arab swords and daggers

[Banu Hashim]

I thought about making a thread about Arabian/Arab swords and daggers as they played key roles in thousands upon thousands of military battles throughout the ages and formed an important element in the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid (3 of the 11 largest empires to date) etc. caliphates and empires.
Aside from countless of other kingdoms, sultanates, sheikdoms, emirates, sharifates, imamates across the Arab world and in 3 continents (Asia, Africa and Europe).

Although swords have lost their importance on the battlefield in the modern era as they are practically only used for ceremonial purposes nowadays, they played a role in the military history of the world for millenniums and until not long ago.

I myself am a collector of old Arabian/Arab swords and daggers. In general old artifacts. This passion was inherited from the family.

There are dozens of different swords and daggers found in Arabia and the Arab world but some of the most famous/well-known are the scimitar sword and the janbiya which is a dagger. In terms of steel then the Damascus steel is arguably the most famous of them all.

I have seen that @Mosamania made a thread about historical weapons in Arabia so I will use some of the useful information that he posted in this thread.

Arabian Historical Weapons

Here is a sword from the Sabaean Kingdom which existed 1200 BC until 275 AD in what is now Southern Arabia (Yemen, parts of Southern KSA and Oman).

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Ancient pre-Islamic Arabian dagger;

An Arabian standard saif;

A curved sword characterized by a relatively short and wide blade.

Some old Arabian scimitar swords;

A Yemeni Janbiya;

The world famous Damascus steel;

More to follow later as I can only post 8 photos per post.

@Rakan.SA @Gasoline @Arabian Legend @Yzd Khalifa @BLACKEAGLE @JUBA @Altamimi @Bubblegum Crisis @Mosamania @Full Moon @Awadd @Antaréss @ebray @Dr.Thrax @Frogman @Mahmoud_EGY @Indos @Aslan @United @Zarvan @Hassan Al-Somal @Hell NO @Amir_Pharaoh @1000 @Malik Alashter @SALMAN AL-FARSI @Tunisian Marine Corps @Chai @agentny17 @Arabi @farag @Haitham @FARSOLDIER @Mootaz-khelifi @Algeria @Falcon29 etc. etc.

 

[Banu Hashim]

Shafra. A small knife that is carried in a special compartment attached to the rear side of the wide belt behind the Jambiya (Khanjar) dagger. Mostly worn in Southern Arabia.

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A silver Janbiya from Southern KSA and Northern Yemen.

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An Arabian saif.

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A Southern Saudi Arabian dagger;

Distinct from the Yemeni and Omani ones. As Mosab mentioned in that other thread then there are a lot of legends and superstitions that surrounds swords and daggers in general.

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Notice the amazing balance of the blade;

A collection of ancient Arabian swords;

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Among them are the famous Al-Qula'a and swords from the famous Zulfiqar family. Mosab gave a long and good description in his thread. Post 14 if people want more information.

An Omani Khanjar (Janbiya) dagger;

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An Arabian silver Janbiya;

 

[Militant Atheist]

Al-Hassani?! What happened to your old account man?

 

[SALMAN F]

The arabs also used indian swords and they have poetry about it

Yemen is also known for its metals that used to make the swords

Al-Hassani?! What happened to your old account man?

He forgot the password

 

[Militant Atheist]

He forgot the password

I'm sure Webby can help him restore his account.

 

[Banu Hashim]

Various Yemeni Janbiyas;

Janbiya by Julian-G. Albert, on Flickr
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A Moorish sword from Al-Andalus (modern day Spain and Portugal)

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A Moroccan Nimcha sword;

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A Saudi Arabian scimitar sword from the 19th century;

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A more extravagent Saudi Arabian scimitar sword with a Janbiya;

From top to bottom;

The first Rashidun caliph Abu Bakr (ra) who ruled between 632-634 AD.
The second Rashidun caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) who ruled between 634-644 AD.
The third Rashidun caliph Uthman ibn Affan (ra) who ruled between 644-656 AD.
The fourth Rashidun caliph Ali ibn abi Talib (ra) who ruled between 656-661 AD.

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The sword of Ali ibn abi Talib (ra);

The sword of Prophet Muhammad (saws)

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Al-Hassani?! What happened to your old account man?

I forgot my old password and the email I registered under. I recall creating a "fake email" after those few security ****-ups on PDF a few months ago. I thought that I had stored my passport on either my iPad or Macbook Pro but I was wrong. I have already made a thread and contacted the entire moderation team and @WebMaster but he is yet to nullify my password.

 

[Militant Atheist]

I forgot my old password and the email I registered under. I recall creating a "fake email" after those few security ****-ups on PDF a few months ago. I thought that I had stored my passport on either my iPad or Macbook Pro but I was wrong. I have already made a thread and contacted the entire moderation team and @WebMaster but he is yet to nullify my password.

I miss you my man! I don't want to ruin your thread so we continue this somewhere else.

 

[شاہد چرسی]

We have many khanjars from Oman I'll upload a picture sometime. They look similar to janibiyas.

 

[Banu Hashim]

Another sword of Prophet Muhammad (saws);

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The swords of the 4 Rashidun caliphs;

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More Arabian swords;

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We have many khanjars from Oman I'll upload a picture sometime. They look similar to janibiyas.

Omanis are especially famous for their silver handicrafts, jewellery and their silver khanjars.
The Magan civilization of Oman was the main source of cooper and diorite for the ancient ME which they exported far away from home.

Magan (civilization) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Banu Hashim]

An old Arabian sword with the shahada and other Arabian swords;

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[Mosamania]

Very important to note: the original Arabian sword is a one handed double bladed sword not a curved one, the ancient arabian warrior fought with a combination of sword and shield. Also ancient Arabians fought with a spear as an Infantry and on horse back, the spear was the original fundamental weapon.

The ancient arabian warrior had two separate fighting martial styles and arts, one was a small shield in fencing, ancient Arabian martial art emphasized controlling your opponent's movement, so a sword that only blocks an attack was considered impractical because the shield was used to push a swinging sword whichever which way that pushes the opponent's sword into an offer swing to create an opening.

The ancient Arabian warrior used the forgotten Arabian martial art of wrestling or Musra'a which literally translates to "empowering" which emphasizes controlling the opponent. Kicking and punching and restraining was a fundamental part of the ancient arbaian martial art.

Because the Authentic Ancient Arabian sword was a straight sword with a shirt hilt to be one handed it left little room for fencing and more room for a powerful single strike that is designed to go home and deliver a mortal blow. This is why as Ancient Romans note in surprise that Arabs in a fight rarely used their sword and more used their shield, kicks and restraining. This is why if you go through the earlier Islamic and pre-Islamic battles there is very few casualties from both sides fighting because the defensive nature of the martial art emphasized only going for a sure hard strike.

Important to note however that in Ancient Arabian martial arts their was a very popular warrior school of the two sweded, Zubair the most famous of the double sworded relied on overwhelming the opponent and deprive them of the chance to make their sure strikes, it was a more difficult martial art that I proudly say originated from Taif as the Azzeziyah monument in Taif writings and drawings showed a formal martial arts school that Arabs travelled to Taif to learn. But in Taif the archery school was dominant as my family's crest of the sliver arrow on a red background show.

This can go forever so I'll just drop it here.

 

[Banu Hashim]

Syrian scimitar sword (Damascus stell);

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Arabian scimitar sword from KSA;

سيوف جلالة الملك خالد بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود .. رحمه الله by Willey 3K, on Flickr

سيوف جلالة الملك خالد بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود .. رحمه الله by Willey 3K, on Flickr​

 

[Gasoline]

Wow .

Very wonderful job and interesting infos .

Thanks man !

I'll back inshaa Allah.

 

[Indos]

@Banu Hashim

Al-Hasani buddy How are you.... ...

Yeah two of my future dream is to have Arabian sword ( even though I dont know where I can get it, it is forbidden to carry it trough plane of course) and SS-2 V 5 riffle which is impossible to acquire unless I am a high official in my country

 

[Frosty]

"Ajrab" sword of Imam Turki bin Abdullah, The founder of the Second Saudi State. Ajrab is well known in Arabia because it's associated with a famous poem by Imam Turki bin Abdullah " when everybody abandoned his friend, I took Ajrab as my best companion"