Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Dagger display


To my delight, these dangerous daggers were safely displayed behind glass at Jerusalem's Museum of Islamic Art. 

(Yes, it's ABC Wednesday D-day.)


The kind  without a fancy hilt is called katar, I think.
They are all antique daggers from around the Middle East. 

Besides being a weapon of war, the dagger is useful in hunting and eating, and a beautiful one can be a ceremonial status symbol. 
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UPDATE:  You can see the 4,000-year-old stone  pommel of a Canaanite dagger that we unearthed at the Holyland Park dig in Jerusalem in an earlier post.
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23 comments:

  1. They all look pretty dangerous! I remember that my father once brought home an Indonesian dagger, called a "kris". We were forbidden to play with it.But still some of them are very beautiful.If they could speak what stories would they tell?

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  2. I love museums that let you take photos. It's quite a collection they have.

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  3. Wil, wow, glad you kids didn't play with the "kris."
    I don't think I want to hear the stories these daggers could tell, sorry.

    JM, thanks. I'll have to show you more of the weapons room.

    Jedediah, but I must confess: I saw the NO Photography sign only at the end of my visit to the museum. But there was no one around to stop me, so . . .

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  4. These have such beautiful (if brutal!) curves to them. I wonder how they decided which form was the most useful/deadly. And I wonder how on earth anyone could carry those long, elongated ones!

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  5. I wouldn't want to meet someone armed with these daggers, but they are quite beautiful.

    An Arkies Musings

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  6. Dazzling and dangerous. I'm not a dagger person myself, even if I appreciate the artistry, but my sweetie loves to look at them.

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  7. They let crafty, sneaky, dangerous, suspicious people like you get so close to those daggers, Dina?!

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  8. Dina, first time on your site; also, first time on ABC. Interesting photos. I wish I had NOT seen the "No Photos" sign at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. I so wanted to have myself photographed standing next to Janis Joplin's slogan-and-charm encrusted little convertible!

    "D" is for Dina! Amy Barlow Libertore, and here's mine, only it's rather Dark:'

    http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/d-is-for-abc-weds/

    Peace, Amy Barlow Liberatore

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  9. How impressive a sight, ability to be close to history. Thank you for teaching me about this. Please have a good Wednesday.

    daily athens

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  10. cool, and a bit scary.

    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  11. They look pretty dang scary.... I'll keep my distance.

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  12. Interesting daggers for the letter D, Dina.
    -- K

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  13. They look sharp and dangerous. Thank you for sharing a piece of history and culture from your side of the world.

    Nathalie
    ABC Wednesday Team

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  14. The first photo showing the daggers looks to be that their handles are made from bone, these are interesting and fascinating, I also like the pictures of the people showing what clothes they wore.

    Thank you for sharing these.

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  15. Hmmm... they look rather pointy and lethal to eat with. Just looking at them would scare anyone.

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  16. I bought a couple of fake daggers in Jordan just to have them confiscated at the Eilat border crossing by the Israeli police...

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  17. Amy got it first, "D" is for (digging) DINA! The dagger collection is daunting!

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  18. The daggers look positively menacing so I'm happy that you added the positive use of these interesting objects.

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  19. Great "D" day post! I'm so happy to have stumbled upon your blog. I'm going to spend some time here looking around. Blessings, Candace

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  20. I find these daggers nice and well laid out.

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  21. wow! those are interesting...thanks for sharing.
    Check out my ABC Wednesday entry too! Thanks a lot, much appreciated!

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  22. Great collection, glad they are safely kept behind glass.

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