Saif, Moroccan saif, sife, nimcha, nimsha

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by werecow

I want to know who Arn was and why I should fear him.

LOL! good one werecow
Well noted that this clearly desperate attempt at the fabled ANDREA FERARA inscription is far from the mark by a native individual in one of the countless trade entrepots across the North African littoral once known as the BARBARY COAST.

It is important to note that while it seems invariably that these distinctly recognizable and ubiquitous sabers are mounted with many variations of European cavalry blades, many later examples of 19th did not carry the kinds of markings long appealing to these native people.

With these familiar markings, which usually consisted of the 'running wolf' of Passau/Solingen; the 'sickle' marks (dentated arcs) of Genoa; the powerful name ANDREA FERARA and others........typically held for centuries as marks of quality in Europe...........with native people, they viewed these in far different light.

Despite the Arab predominance and of course the Muslim Faith, the folk religions and superstitions prevailed, and much as with the complex systems of symbolic devices, these distinct markings were seen as imbuing the blades used in these swords with magic and power..

Interestingly, though most of the blades coming into North Africa by the 19th century were of course German, however with notable diplomatic and trade connections between England and Morocco through 17th century well into 19th, the diffusion of English blades filtered into the Maghreb.
This was the conduit which brought in the numbers of ANDREA FERARA blades (which were actually Solingen made for the Scots).

These kinds of traditionally recognized awareness of these earlier markings led this unknown trader to embellish the blade on this example nimcha accordingly, and NOT to deceive but in the belief that these markings all held talismanic significance. The compounding of these together presumably would add even more potency.

Though naturally I would expect disagreement with my perspective, however IMO it is certainly compellingly plausible.

While these nimcha are typically regarded as from Morocco, Stone (1934) noted them as Algerian, but ALSO used in Morocco. Briggs (1965) who was situated in Algeria used examples he acquired locally in his study on Tuareg blades.

Though this example is likely from early 20th c. the blade is quite possibly from the many European blades circulating through trade centers in the North African littoral from earlier years. It would be hard to define use distinctly to region or whether Arab or Berber as these were so widely used for centuries overall in these regions.

This is a rugged example which is of the type used by the notorious Barbary Pirates from Morocco through Algeria, Tunis and as far as Libya throigh the 19th c. and even by Berber tribes in the Rif Wars in Morocco in the 1920s.

On a more specific note, blades with the 'Genoan' sickle marks that are remarkably similar to those seen on many nimchas, have been found in areas of Black Sea coast. The Genoan presence there in trade since medieval times brought those sickle marks into the Caucusus (there called 'gurda') and Styria (Austria).
These areas were the source of many blades found in North Africa through Arab trade, as these blades were enormously popular there.

While this may be seen by many as 'simply another nimcha', those of us here who have been intrigued by them for many years see the complex history behind them. They have become increasingly harder to find, so this is a wonderful acquisition.