My first flyssa

[Emanuel]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

The curved examples as shown by Kronckew, in my opinion are not a development of the flyssa, and though often termed either flyssa, nimcha or even yataghan in very loose descriptions, seem to me to have derived most likely from European naval dirks of the 19th c. These are often very nicely made, as the example shown by Kronckew, but I think are elements of costume that are found throughout Saharan regions and mostly 20th c.
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The term nimcha, according to Elgood, is basically an Arab term meaning small sword (nim, cha or sha) and of course seems misapplied to the full size sabres of Morocco distinguished by this term (actually more often called sa'if).

Hello Jim!

ErnestoJuan and I had discussed these strange variants and some point, and we looked as some interesting examples on ebay. I think they're the original small nimcha, which was then made into the tourist dance variant with long, curved and very thin blade cut from sheet metal, and the extremely large handle and pommel that looks like those of the saif-nimcha. I like the attribution to European naval dirks, thanks for that . I guess these are often mistaken as flyssa because of the similar decorative scheme - often the same geometric motifs and the same carving on scabbards and handles. I understand that their blades are much thinner than those of true flyssa, is this correct?

Yup, I definitely like the study of ethnographic arms!! A healthy, albeit costly obsession.

Emanuel