Greetings!
This is my first topic here. :D

One of my grandfather's hobbies is collecting cold weapons.
Recently, he got his hands on an interesting dagger that he's having difficulty identifying. I was hoping you'd help us out a bit.
(See attachment)

It seems like it's of arabic/middle-eastern origin (due to the arabic writing on the blade, close to the hilt).
Come to think of it, we don't know if it's authentic anyway :wtf:

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Dagger [ Download ]

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Guard [ Download ]

Looks like Arab or Turkish dagger. Hard to date, could 16th century, could be early 20th. Based on your name, I guess Turkish left behind when they retreated. ;)

It's a shabriya (sometimes spelled "shibriya"). Syrian. ("Syrian" in a general sense; these are made/found in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine.) You could call the shabriya a type of jambiya (which means "dagger" in general, but is used in the West to describe a specific type of dagger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janbiya )

Most that I've seen are more ornamental than functional. Some are made for sale for tourists. But they were (and maybe still are) an everyday dress item for men, so many of them were made for the local market (again, with the primary function being ornamental).

Timo, good input. Shibriya indeed, the dove mark indicates it was made in Jordan. This exact form is typical to central & northern Jordan, central & southern Israel and the Sinai peninsula. Highly regarded as a token to respcted people among the bedouins and is being carried on proudly even today in Jordan.

Jordanian Desert Police, formal attire, current photo:
http://www.toreigeland.com/DESERTPATROLWEB/co...46_H.Q.jpg