You're right, the camera doesn't cut it for close ups.
Does the hilt feel "grainy" to you?
Mine is rhinocerous horn, which is composed of compressed hair that's quite different from the normal horn more commonly encountered and not "layered" like the karotin based true horn....if those chips show layering, it's deffinitely true horn.
While the nimcha originated in Morocco, from what I've been able to determine it is even more widespread than the kaskara or takouba and widely used throughout the arabic world.
Unless I'm mistaken, those two concrete giant crossed swords that form an arch upon entering the Bagdad airport are nimchas, aren't they?
Mike
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