oamotme

Gentlemen,

I am now reliably informed that the inscription reads, "Al kawakab al ahmar al gharbia" which translates as "The Red Planet in the West" or more succinctly "Mars in the West". Accordingly I would suggest that this star along with the badge and medal all belong to a private society and thus are not state or official awards. I have found no trace of this in ether English language or Arabic language Google searches.

Kind regards,

Owain

Gentlemen,

I am now reliably advised that the inscription on the first star reads, "Al Kawkab Al Ahmar Al Gharbi" which translates as the, "Red Planet of the West" or more properly, "Mars of the West". Accordingly I am now of the view that this is a private society award.

Kind regards,

Owain

Dear Megan,

Well that resolves that! I seem to recall that the company also made the Order of the Star of Somalia but I digress.

Kind regards,

Regards,

Owain

Lion,

The embroidery appears to read, "Palestine Liberation Army".

Regards,

Owain

Zogist,  Thanks for tidying up my amateur Arabic and clarifying - much appreciated, Regards, Owain

Megan,

Many thanks. The inscription reads (approximately), "The People are the Strength of the Nation / The Kingdom of Libya / Council of Sheikhs". Accordingly I would suggest that this is not a state award rather a parliamentary award.

Do you have an image of the reverse? I would suggest the award was made by Bichay, and the reverse, if so, would have his stamp.

Kind regards,

Owain

 

 

 

Paul, Yes there are no Soviet devices or indicators - possibly Syrian - recipient involved in the space programme. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen,

This is not my field of expertise but the wings illustrated below are in a picture with an Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union Star. I am assuming they are Soviet. Can any fellow member of GMIC confirm this? If not Soviet they may be of Arab provenance.

Many thanks,

Owain 

Dear James,

The Arabic on the order is not clear - can you send a close up? (I think I can read "The Kingdom of Libya" in the centre.) Now with regard to the medal this is only the second time I have ever seen this particular award which commemorates the accession of Sultan Saeed of Oman in 1931. There is a silver one on display in the Bait Zubair Museum in Muscat and this was included in an article of mine in the OMRS Journal some years ago on the Noble Saeedee Order of Oman. Is the one you illustrate gold or is the light deceiving us? A great find and a medal which has been in the top ten of my wants list for many years.

Kind regards and thank you for sharing this image.

Owain

From my notes:

Obverse           In the centre an image of the Jabali Fort at Muscat Bay. This is surrounded above and below by the Arabic inscription,“A keepsake of His Highness Sultan Saeed Bin Teymour Bin Faisal” “To the throne Sultan of Muscat and Oman Second Day of Shawal of the Year 1351 Hejira”. This Al Hejira date corresponds to 28 January 1933.

Reverse           A blank polished disc.

Size                 39 mm diameter.

Metal               Silver.

Ribbon            38 mm wide of deep purple/blue with 7 mm wide dark red edge stripes.

Suspension      From a ring affixed to a loop at the top of the medal.

Designer          Unknown.

Manufacturer  Probably of British manufacture.

 

Peter, I suspect that any foreign awards worn by Egyptians in the above photos will be related to state visits at home and abroad. Of course as Chris notes many Egyptians served during the Great War and the British campaign medals were awarded to them and no doubt in some instances some British gallantry awards - an interesting avenue of research no doubt. Access to Egyptian records concerning the same would be nice but I suspect unlikely! Regards, Owain

G, Do any of these images, if enlarged show medals being worn? Regards, Owain

Pieter, I am advised it is the 2nd class of the Medal of Cooperation awarded by the military to civilians in recognition of valuables services rendered to the military. Regards, Owain

Jeff, The centre appears to be the same if not similar to the Hafidien Order of Morocco - perhaps this is a compilation star as the Arabic should not be with a cross. The Arabic is not 199% but appears to read "Al Jalalah Al Yousfid'. Regards, Owain

Ha! The UAE as a whole has in its relatively brief existence a vast selection of awards:

As a nation it has State, Military and Ministry of Interior awards - various and expanding series of such awards.

Some of the constituent Emirates have their own series of awards:

• Dubai - Police
• Sharjah - Police
• Ras Al Khaima - State
• Um Ul Qwain - State

...and prior to the and over the formation of the Emirates there were specific awards for the Trucial Oman Scouts, Abu Dhabi Defence Force, Abu Dhabi Police, Dubai Defence Force and Union Defence Force.

If you need more detail OMSA has published some of articles of mine on these awards.

Kind regards, Owain

 

 

Gentlemen,

I detail below a translation of the first few pages - I apologise for the somewhat awkward phrasing but the translation could do with more 'polish' but that can wait!

Kind regards, Owain

 

Dedication

§  to Dear Beloved Egypt;

§  to every drop of sweat and drop of blood offered by this free and proud people, its striking armed forces and valiant and loyal police;

§  to everyone who loved this country and who is caring for its survival and steadfastness;

§  To my dear son Eng. Ahmed to be an extension of my career and a complement of my service.

 

Introduction

When my friend Major General  Sameh Al-Laqani requested me to review this book, linguistically and grammatically, I thought at first glance that I am in front of a book about modern history, but I was surprised - that I am in front of a comprehensive historic encyclopedia of medals, necklaces and orders of the current era, and that the author of the book has dedicated himself over the past years to collect relevant scientific material exerting an unimaginable and unspeakable efforts for this purpose. It is enough that he spared no efforts to collect the images of all necklaces, medals and badges from their historical, scientific and official sources and documented them accurately. I know that this has taken a great effort, long years and travels from north to south and from east to west of Egypt in addition to the effort in searching for the reasons for granting such awards in both the Royal or Presidential eras for over a hundred years, as he documented the same starting the rule of Sultan Hussein, specifically since 1916 and up to the current period.

 

So, we are in front of a significant documentary book of history that we may classify as a great document as it has not been written in a historical style only but tending more to the documentary language with the logic of history more than just writing a history.  Therefore, it is not a book of history in the academic or scientific sense because the author has directly used the documentary language more than academic or heritage language.

 

At last, we are certainly in front of a new scientific effort where the author has succeeded in recording a significant and forgotten issue with the scarcity of relevant references and its sources. He also succeeded in taking us through different ruling times to even document behind June 30 2016 revolution

Doctor Bahaa Hasaballah

Professor of Arabic Literature, Faculty of Arts - Journalist and Writer

Author in brief

Sameh Abdulrahman Al-Lqani, born in Alex, October 06, 1954

 

§  Graduate of the Police Academy, 1976

 

§  Received specialized technical courses in the areas of public security, prevention of crimes of public funds and criminal investigation.

 

§  Received training course on latest security systems, USA, 1981

 

§  Earned the Order of Distinction of the second tier in the field of public security, 1998

 

§  Won dozens of rewards in this regard as well

 

§  Assumed a number positions, most recently deputy director of security of Aswan, deputy director of security of Alexandria and deputy assistant minister of interior for ports security sector.

 

§  Retired in 2012 at his request.

 

Introduction

 

Egyptian necklaces, badges, orders, stripes and medals have not received the necessary attention in the encyclopedias and scientific documentation.

 

My strong love for my beloved Egypt, and with modest and pioneering attempt, has driven me to collect and review the available and unavailable materials, and to compile it in one special reference which took me more than ten years.

 

I am very keen to present this material to the current and future generations to make them aware of their country's past and present heritage. In addition, I also wanted to add this to the libraries of our generations in order to be a reference for those who wish to complete this attempt and study in the future.

 

Also, I intended to present this information in a simple way by dividing the work over the historical stages of the Egyptian State (Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, the United Arab Republic; Arab Republic of Egypt) and in several sections each of two chapters, the first is for the civil orders, badges and medals, and the second is for the military. Viva Egypt,

 

Alexandria 05/05/2015

Police Major Gen.

Sameh Al-Laqani

 

Jasmor58,

The First Series, dating from the 1970's, consisted of only three single class awards:

• Order of Bravery
• Order of Merit
• Order of Loyal Service.

This was later expanded into a Second Series:

• Order of Bravery - 3 Classes
• Order of Excellence - 3 Classes
• Order / Medal of Meritorious Long Service - for 10, 20 & 30 Years
• Medal of Long Service - for 10, 20 & 30 Years

Kind regards,

Owain

Jasmor58

The current Dubai Police Series is, I think, the 3rd series in the development of the Dubai Police awards and consist of, subject to confirmation:

• Order of Dubai Police - 5 Grades
• Order of Bravery - 4 Grades
• Order of Appreciation - 2 Grades 
• Order of Cooperative Security - 2 Grades
• Medal of Distinguished Service - 10, 20, 30 & 40 years - two grades for each
• Medal of Loyal Service - 10, 20, 30 & 40 years - two grades for each

To date I have been unable to ascertain why/what the grade subdivision represents for the last two awards.

Kind regards,

Owain

 

Not my field of expertise at all, but is the last medal the Yugoslav War Medal? Owain

Ilja,

A great find - the document would imply that the medal is an official award to be worn rather that just a commemorative piece. I note that the recent book on Egyptian awards refers to it as an 'Order of Friendship" and awarded to those engaged in the construction of the High Dam at Aswan. I believe the Arabic only issue came in silver and bronze while the bilingual issue is only in silver, but I may be wrong. The ribbon for the Arabic issue is green with  inset narrow yellow edge stripes. The bilingual Arabic Russian issue may have a different ribbon  - see is illustration below but this may be an 'add on'.

Regards,

Owain

After browsing a number of articles on this matter my understanding is that Arthus Bertrand prequalified to be one of the 7 or 8 companies able to tender for the manufacture of awards but that no contract had been made. I agree with Paul's comments about AB's enamel work it does tend to chip easily - as evidence in some of its foreign awards, although this may be in part due to change in modern enamel firing processes and regulations which does not allow the use of as much or any lead which would strengthen the enamel. Regards, Owain

Dear All,

Apologies for not responding to this thread sooner - a weekend away from Riyadh in Delhi. I detail below my notes on this award:

This medal was awarded to all those participating in Exercise Island Crown which was a military exercise held as a joint Gulf unit, a Rapid Movement Force, with other Gulf States in 1984/5.

 

The obverse of this 37mmm diameter circular medal bears in the centre the badge of the Saudi Armed forces being the Saudi National emblem of a palm tree above two crossed sword which in turn surmounts two crossed rifles butts lowermost, a pair of wings and an anchor. This device is surrounded by a wreath of two palm leaves tied at the base and above which, directly above the anchor is the Saudi Royal crown. On either side are the Arabic dates, 1984 (left) and 1405 (right). Above below is the Arabic inscription, “الجزيرة درع تمرين“ (Tamreen Dura’a Al Jazirah) which translates as “Exercise Island Crown”. Whilst the word island is a literal translation of “Al Jazira” in this context “Al Jazira” refers to the Arabian Peninsula. The reverse is blank.

 

From photographic evidence this medal would appear to come in two classes – gilt for officers and slivered for other ranks, however close inspection of the illustrated medals notes that the gilt medal inscription is preceded by the figure one whilst the silvered medal has the figure two. This may imply either two separate awards for two separate exercises or designate the class of medal. Unfortunately I have been unable to source any documentation concerning the establishment of this medal.

I believe the gilt medal illustrated was from an assorted lot at a recent (end 2015) auction in Paris - I bid unsuccessfully - and I was advised that a number of the awards up for sale had emerged from stock drawers or similar at Arthur Bertrand.  The gilt piece may therefore also be a specimen piece never signed off but I have no evidence one way or another.

Kind regards to all, Owain

P.S. GMIC has reversed the order of the Arabic words but not the letters.

Jan, I received similar envelopes - I got three books, and suggested to the vendor that better packaging would be good idea! Owain.

Frank, Fortunately not - well nothing I can afford anyway! Owain

Frank, DNW has a couple of Bahawalpur orders in their next auction - too rich for my pocket! Owain

Paul, The silver mark is much clearer on the Decoration of Military Duty shown above, which incidentally is the United Arab Republic issue as opposed to the Decoration of Military Bravery which is the Arab Republic of Egypt version. Regards, Owain