The Jambiya, Part III

A variety of jambiyas such as the above are offered for sale at the Oriental Arms website.

The 19th century offers a great wealth of travel books, as  Europeans traveled to still-exotic foreign lands and described their impressions to their readers back home. Often these writers expound authoritatively on some aspect of the culture on the basis of a single observation, which may have been an anomaly, or which they may have misinterpreted. When reading them, we have to take what they say with a grain of salt--as we must with everything we read, now as much as then.

John Fryer Keane, in his Six Months in Meccah: An Account of the Mohammedan Pilgrimage to Meccah (1881), gives this description of the quality of the temper of the jambiya blade:

The only [weapon] worth description here is the Arab knife or jambiyah, with one of which most of our people had provided themselves. Jambiyahs are slightly different in make in different parts of Arabia, and are known by the names of the places that most affect the particular shape. The Meccah jambiyah is the broadest and most bent; the Mascat jambiyah is nearly straight, and about half as broad as the Meccan. The iron of the jambiyah is exceedingly soft, and sharpened by beating out the edge cold on a small anvil, shaped for this purpose only, the sharpening of jambiyah being a trade of itself. This gives the best edge I know for severing skin and hair, though of course when applied to anything hard it instantly disappears. With a newly-sharpened jambiyah a rolled-up sheepskin may be divided at one stroke.

In the same book, Keane describes coming across a corpse in the desert with severe wounds inflicted by a jambiya:

I saw before me on the ground the body of a man quite recently killed. It was that of a Maghribi, who had probably been separated from his caravan, preceding ours four days. This hardy native of the North African desert must have supported life, after losing his way, until the night before, when he had been encountered by Bedawi [Bedouin] and slain. The corpse was chiefly interesting to me as illustrating the frightful nature of the wound which the terrible jambiyah (Bedawi knife) will inflict. There was a gunshot in the head, and the body was much mutilated with sword-cuts; but the jambiyah wound would have been judged by any one not acquainted with the weapon to have been made with a broad axe. The thorax and abdomen were laid open from just below where the left collarbone joins the breastbone down to the left groin, and all the viscera interposed were severed as with a razor. While inspecting this interesting object I kept my eye on the rocks, and changed my shot charges for ball. I have no doubt the perpetrators of the deed were on the hill, but I rejoined the caravan safely.

Though Keane suggests that the steel of the jambiya was not tempered properly, another author of the period, Walter Harris, writes that well-tempered steel was highly prized. The following is from A Journey Through the Yemen and Some General Remarks Upon that Country (1893):

The greatest skill of the jewellers of Sanaa, who are rightly renowned for their workmanship, is exhibited in the dagger-sheaths, many of which are of rich silver-gilt, and even, at times, of gold. Perhaps the most lovely, however, are of plain polished silver inlaid with gold coins, principally of the Christian Byzantine emperors; others, again, of delicate filigree, which the natives line with coloured leathers or silks. But more than even the sheaths of these jambiyas, as they call their daggers, the natives value the blades. Antique ones are generally considered the best, and the people declare that the old art of hardening the steel has been lost. Be this as it may, there is no doubt that the modern blades are of no mean workmanship, and great prices, for the Yemen, are paid for good specimens. The two parts of the dagger are nearly always sold separately, and a Yemeni, having found a blade to suit him, has a sheath made according to his taste and wealth.

More on the Jambiya, the Arab Dagger

This magnificent replica of a 13th-century Moroccan-style jambiya and its sheath were made by master craftsman Chuck Burrows. See more about it here.

In my files I have a number of 19th-century references to the curved Arab dagger, the jambiya, and in the interest of taking a glance at other cultures in which the carrying of a large knife is traditional, I thought I’d pass them along. More to come tomorrow.

From Narrative of Voyages to Explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia and Madagascar (1833), by W. F. W. Owen:

Poor, indeed, must an Arab be, who is seen without a sabre hung over his shoulder and a dagger by his side. In richly embellishing the handles of these, he considers the few dollars he can manage to scrape together by painful self-denial, even of necessaries, well laid out.

From An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig "Commerce" (1847), by James Riley:

The Moors . . . . were armed with daggers, or scimitars, suspended from their necks by a cord of red woolen yarn thrown over the left shoulder: the scabbards were such as I have before described. The dagger is worn outside of the haick [robe]; its handle is made of wood, handsomely wrought. The point of the dagger hooks inward like a pruning knife : when they have occasion to use it, they seize it with their right hand, the lower side of the hand being next to the blade, and strike after raising it above their heads, ripping open their adversary: they never attempt to parry a stroke with their daggers.

From Zanzibar, vol 1, (1872) by Sir Richard Francis Burton:

None but women and slaves leave the house unarmed. The lowest Arab sticks an old dagger in his belt, handles a rusty spear, or shoulders a cheap firelock. . . .  Jambiyahs, Khanjars, or daggers, worn strapped and buckled round the waist, are curved till the point forms almost a right angle with the hilt. It is a silly construction; but anything will serve to stab the enemy's back above the shoulders. The dudgeon of black or white rhinoceros or buffalo horn is adorned with a profusion of filigree-work, and silver or gold knobs; the blade, sharp on both sides, is nearly three inches broad at the base. The sheath ('Alá) is similarly ornamented  upon a ground of leather, cloth, or brocade, dark or scarlet, with the usual metal rings and 'fixings.' The Khanjar often costs $200, and a handsome dagger is a sign of rank.

A Khanjar

Antoine Barthelemy Clot (1793–1868) was a French physician who taught anatomy to medical students in early 19th-century Egypt--one of the first Europeans to do so. He was given the honorary title “Bey” and so was known as “Clot Bey.” One of the difficulties he had to overcome was the Muslim abhorrence of dissection of human remains. When Clot-Bey laid out a cadaver before his class and began opening it up, one fanatical student attacked him with his jambiya, slashing downward at his chest. According to his obituary in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal:

The blade glanced upon the ribs. Clot-Bey felt that he was not seriously hurt. He drew a bandage from his case, and while adjusting it upon the wound, thus addressed the students: - "We were about to speak of the relations of the sternum and the ribs. I will now, however, explain to you why a blow from above, downward, is not likely to penetrate."

This proof of presence of mind gave him unlimited ascendancy over his pupils. He continued his course, and raised many students worthy of their master.

Dagger Wearers "More Handsome and Good-Looking"

The following story is from National Public Radio's Morning Edition program of September 25, 2008. It's an interesting, though brief, examination of the tradition in many Middle Eastern countries of carrying a dagger. The most popular style is a jambiya, with a curved blade.

I had always assumed that the value of rhinoceros horn lay in its use in traditional Asian medicine. In fact, though, it is its use as a high-status handle material for ceremonial daggers that has boosted its price.

One thing that strikes me about the jambiya compared to the bowie is that its design is far less utilitarian. Evidently, the "look" is what people go for. It is revealing that the most important aspect of the jambiya is the cost of the material used for the handle--the part that shows. Most Western knife aficionados judge a knife by the quality of the steel, the shape of the blade, the overall feel, and the ergonomics of the grip, with the material of the handle being chosen on utilitarian grounds.

 A jambiya vendor.

Yemeni Knives Mark Status, Masculinity
by Ivan Watson

In the West, clothes may make the man. But in Yemen, the ultimate status symbol is a good knife.

Yemeni men don't invest as much time and money as some American men do in finding the perfect cell phone, car, hunting rifle or flat screen TV. In this society, where tribal Arab traditions still dominate, men have a different method of showing off their wealth and social class - they wear short, curved daggers tucked into the front of their robes, in ornately embroidered belts.

Known locally as "jambiya," these ornamental knives may be the world's most phallic fashion accessory for men.

In the centuries-old market of San'a, Yemeni men who already proudly wear fine daggers, cluster around shop windows to gaze longingly at new jambiya blades.

A Status Symbol
"In Europe, people give importance to the tie or the suit you wear," explains Yaya Mohammed Sariya, a bearded man with wild eyes and thick-lensed glasses, who wears a jambiya worth thousands of dollars in his belt. "Here, people recognize that you come from a good family based on the jambiya you carry."

The men browsing here explain that in Yemen, the jambiya is an important symbol of masculinity.

Mohammed Jassim was hoping to buy a $300 knife for his 14-year-old son in time for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that follows the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Jassim took a moment from appraising new blades to give some friendly fashion tips to a foreign visitor. "If you wear a jambiya, it will be good," he said. "You will be more handsome and good-looking."

The knives are crafted in the winding back alleys of the Old City in San'a. Late at night, showers of sparks tumble onto the cobblestone walkways, as blacksmiths squat barefoot in cubbyhole workshops, hammering and grinding away at blades.

A Long History Of Knife-Making
According to the locals, the best of these knives are sold at Abdullah al Azeri's shop.

Azeri sits cross-legged on the floor, buffing the handle of a 350-year-old dagger that he says is worth more than $25,000. He says his family has been in the knife business for more than 1,000 years. "The handle is the most important part of the jambiya," he says. "The best ones are made of rhinoceros horn."

The export of the horns of the endangered rhino was banned long ago - a move that Azeri and his fellow jambiya enthusiasts resent to this day. "If there is an offer for thousands of tons of rhino horn, I will buy them," Azeri's son Adel vows.

Today, workmen carve the handles out of bull horn and other animal bones.

Some of the stalls throughout the market give off a golden glow at night from the reflection of the magnificent jambiya belts hanging on the walls.

A Marker Of Manhood
In the final days before the end of Ramadan, you can see proud fathers like Naif Mohammed tenderly strapping a new dagger, scabbard and belt onto the waist of his 7-year-old son, Bashir. Onlookers said the gift is a symbol of manhood for Yemeni boys.

Yemeni women toil at home, sometimes for months, embroidering the jambiya belts with golden thread. They then approach the shopkeepers dressed in all-concealing black robes, selling the belts out of plastic bags.

Abbas Ali, 17, says his mother has been sewing jambiya belts since she was 12. Though he has three knives and belts of his own, Ali appears to be one of the few Yemeni men who avoids wearing a knife in public. "I don't like it," Ali explains in rapid-fire English, while snapping his fingers. "When you have a belt, you can't work, you can't walk, you can't [move] fast around."

Ali also says that in the event of an argument, he wants to avoid the potentially fatal consequences of drawing his knife. Yemeni knife-sellers say the jambiya should be drawn only as a matter of last resort.

On one visit to the market, a jambiya blade flashed briefly in the sun when a man drew his knife during a scuffle outside the ancient Bab al Yemen gate. Fortunately, no blood was drawn -- and several men brandishing sticks chased away the knife-wielding man.