Study of a real tribal design - Syrian Kurdish dagger with (supposedly) a Wootz blade!!!

 On Sunday, I got this dagger from Khalil, and thought I´d share it with you;-). It has a mild curve to the blade, the two edges are symetrically ground in a somewhat conical shape. The edges are purposefully blunted to be sold legally on a flea market, but not much. There are two fullers hand - carved into the blade. The handle is made from Coral, emaille, buffalo horn and brass into a rooster´s shape. The sheath is handmade from thin hardwood and copper. The copper is meticulously hammered into shape and then brazed.

 The rooster´s comb is made from red Coral. The handle shows some worm "corrosion", but no deep cracks and can easily be restored.

 The backside of the sheath features two loop hangers for a suspending chain. The sheath is made to be carried behind a belt or sash.

 This is an engraving (upside down) showing its origin in the Arabian language. I will provide you with news on this knife I want to to some research on!

 The well - preserved blade. I have a suspicion it might be Wootz steel, because I mildly etched it and it showed some strange "milky way"pattern.Cannot tell for sure, for I did not clean nor polish it first! A Mora knife cannot carve its edges, and a file has absolutely no effect either, but some tiny parts are softer than others. Those parts are too small to be due to bad tempering of spring steel or the like. I am not at all sorry about that!;-) And even if it´s spring steel, it´s a great knife! The bolster is bronze with a high copper content with a red patina.

The engraving on the sheath. I like this a lot, and I want to have a try at a metal sheath, too.











This knife cost me 18€.