Shafaq News- Kirkuk
Two craftsmen are all that remain ofthe sword trade in Kirkuk's Grand Bazaar, where rising production costs,falling demand, and imported blades have closed most of the workshops that oncemade the market one of Iraq's best-known centers of sword and dagger making,according to craftsmen who spoke to Shafaq News.
The bazaar previously held dozens ofworkshops employing blacksmiths, engravers, and specialists in handles andscabbards, serving customers from across Iraq's provinces and traders arrivingfrom abroad.
Imad Al-Bayati, one of the oldestsword makers in the market, told Shafaq News that the Iraqi sword has become“an object of heritage,” bought by collectors as a gift at official and tribaloccasions, and carried in some Sufi religious rites and folklore festivals.
“The sword most in demand acrossIraqi markets remains that of Imam Ali [first Imam in Shia Islam], known as theZulfiqar. It carries religious and historical symbolism for Shia, hung in homesand guest halls or given as a gift. Arab and Ottoman swords follow, stillsought by those drawn to heritage pieces.”
Furnaces that burned firewood fordecades now run on gas and electricity, but the fire remains the measure of thework, determining the hardness of the blade, and the blacksmith's experiencedetermines whether the finished sword combines strength with the appearance thebuyer wants, Al-Bayati said, warning that young people are not entering thetrade and that traditional crafts receive no support, leaving the survival ofthe profession dependent on whether the few remaining craftsmen can pass onwhat they know.
The heavier problem, according toKamil Abbas, a sword maker in the same bazaar, is not the shortage of customersbut the hold that imported swords have taken on the Iraqi market, after localproduction led it for decades. He said Turkish and Pakistani swords are now themost requested, valued for the quality of their manufacture, the precision oftheir finishing, and the range of designs and sizes available.
“A premium Turkish or Pakistanisword can reach about $600, while Iranian and Syrian swords run between $300and $400,” Abbas said, with cheaper models selling for less depending on thesteel, the ornamentation, and the work in the handle and scabbard.
The reputation of Turkish andPakistani blades rests on the raw materials rather than the name, saidhistorical researcher Mohammed Shakir, pointing to high-hardness steel thatgives the sword strength and a longer life. The advantage extends to the handles,cut from high-grade natural woods, bone and horn, including gazelle bone, andfinished with fine metal ornamentation that gives the piece an artistic valuecollectors respond to.
“Iraq once held deep traditions insword making, with skilled craftsmen in Kirkuk and other cities producingblades known for their quality,” Shakir said, before an opening to globalmarkets, rising local production costs, and a shrinking pool of skilled laborpushed the industry into gradual decline.
The craftsmen say saving theprofession requires government support for traditional crafts and theirinclusion in intangible heritage protection programs, alongside dedicatedexhibitions and festivals and an effort to draw young people into learning the work.
