A very fine Moroccan Koumaya dagger (c. 1890 Morocco)

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The koummya is the characteristic traditional dagger of the Berber and Arabic peoples of Morocco. Its a variant of the Arabic jambiya, and the contoured handles, curved double-edged blades and exaggeratedly upturned scabbard tips are all features consistent with such an interpretation. In the context of the traditional regional manner of dress, the koummya is worn visibly at the left side, generally about at the level of the waist and is suspended vertically, with the scabbard tip forward, by a long woolen baldric, attached at either end to one of the two scabbard rings, and worn crossing in front and back of the torso and over the right shoulder. A much greater diversity in forms and decoration exists than is represented by the examples presented in this essay and presumably such features could be used to place particular examples geographically and temporally.

The hilt is in Rhino horn dressed in silver. The scabbard is of superior craftmanship silver decorated in classic Islamic floral motifs.