An Ottoman walnut ivory-hilted gold-inlaid steel... Lot 79 2

An Ottoman walnut ivory-hilted gold-inlaid steel blade yataghan, signed Abdullah for Hüseyin Kalfa, Turkey, early 19th century. The blade is profusely inscribed with the name of the Seven Sleepers and their dog, turkish poetry verse and the names of the four caliphs, an Arabic prayer and the beginning of a Turkish couplet. The myth of the seven sleepers of Ephesus, also known as the companions of the cave in Islam or Ashab al-Kahf, was revived under the Ottomans, especially on talismanic objects. The Koran refers to them in Sura al-Kahf, verses 8 to 26. The presence of their names on Ottoman blades may have suggested the owner's invincibility."