# Communities > Antique Arms & Armour Community > Middle-East, India & Africa (MEIA) >  Yemeni sword?

## A. Alnakas

evening,

i have acquired a blade that is puzzling me, i think its yemeni but it have a ottoman(?) symbol on the blade. here is some pictures :











sorry about the bad pictures.

yours,

A.Alnakkas

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## Sancar Ozer

İnteresting sword; three crescent moon is an Ottoman symbol but I don't think the sword is Turkish. It might be an Arabic saif from late 19th century.

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## A. Alnakas

thanks mr.sancar.

do you have any idea from where this blade may have originated? its previous owner told me its yemeni from the period of ottoman rule, though am not sure about this, since ottomans ruled yemen 500 years ago and i doubt this sword is that old. unless someone can actually confirm that.

could it be that there is an arabic regime that used the same symbol as the ottomans? it might be syrian or iraqi, but i highly doubt that, as they used the curved swords, and the hilts are of different design (btw the hilt is horn so it seems).

anyone else got an opinion?

yours,

A.Alnakkas

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## Michael Blalock

From  the style of the hilt I would agree that this was rehilted in Yemen. The blade may be european. It looks a lot like a kattara blade.

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## A. Alnakas

thank you!

this is very possible, though does it explain the ottoman symbol? also the blade seen some use.. its beaten against something sharp so i guess it saw combat. also the blade is of decent quality. 


isnt kattara an omani sword?... come to think of it, oman isnt very far from yemen! though still the ottoman symbol is unexplained.

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## Sancar Ozer

İf it is rehilted, the blade might have come from the Ottoman Arabia. That might explain the symbol. Or it might just be a decorative decision.

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## Michael Blalock

The Ottoman Turks rulled Yemen for hundreds of years, up until the the 1920's. There is nothing suprising about finding Turkish blades in Yemen.

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## A. Alnakas

from what i know, the ottomans ruled yemen in the 15th and 16th century. and was under the rule of the zaidi's up until the 19th century.

i've been looking on some kattara's they seemed to use the crescent alot as decoration. so could be an omani copying ottoman symbol or just random similarity.

thanks for the input fellas

A.Alnakkas

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## Michael Blalock

The crescent moon with three stars is a very common european makers mark.
There are a couple of examples here:

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...3&page=2&pp=30

While the Zaidi Imate was continuous until the 20th century, the Turks maintained control of the coast until the fall of the Ottoman empire.

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## Michael Blalock

I meant to add. I really like that sword. If you ever get tired of it, let me know.

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## Sancar Ozer

Actually the Ottoman Turkish symbol, that I mentioned, is the three crescent moons; not the crescent moon and three stars.  :Wink: 



Yemen was a part of Ottoman Empire betwwen 15th to 16th century. After 16th century Zaidi İmamate gained independence, but Turks continued to control the coastal region. İn 19th century Ottoman Empire recaptured all of Yemen and kept the country until the end of W.W.1

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## A. Alnakas

> I meant to add. I really like that sword. If you ever get tired of it, let me know.


Ha! maybe we can trade someday  :Smilie: 

thanks guys, this have been very educational to me.

yours,
A.Alnakkas

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