Introduction
Sabiki is the Yemeni term for a large sword-like variety of the jambiya, the Arab dagger. They are also known as Wahhabite jambiya named after the Wahhabi fundamentalists who were known to wear them. The sabiki is mostly associated with the Asir and Jizan region in the southwest of the Arabian peninsula but was in wider circulation.1
People from Hejaz, the "Western Province" of Saudi Arabia.
The man is carrying his large sabiki in front of him.
From: Les costumes populaires de la Turquie en 1873
published by the Imperial Ottoman Commission for the
"Exposition Universelle" of Vienna in 1873.
Photo by Pascal Sebah.
Notes to introduction
1. Stephen Gracie; Jambiya, daggers from the ancient Souqs of Yemen. Stephen Gracie Pty. Ltd. 2017.
Antique examples
A typical example.
Sold by Mandarin Mansion in 2022.
A very fine Ottoman-made sabiki.
Sold by Mandarin Mansion in 2022.
