The Omani Sayf. ( The Omani Straight Dancing Sword)

[Iain]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams Iain~ Im not about to argue that point, however, it seems to me that few Europeans if any have swords from 19th C. Oman which was in decline and largely side stepped because of the Suez canal etc.
I am not particularly well positioned either to view possible European collections but I am astride the situation here in Oman. It is, therefor, here that I shall research.

Hopefully you'll turn something up, however, one of the great benefits of Colonial era bring backs is that the when the item was removed from the source culture it remained unchanged. Given that Britain had involvement in the region from the 1820s it would not be surprising to turn up a few.

Perhaps you'll be able to find that locally, but I'll be interested about any dated provenance.

It should be noted that those in favour of an old dancing sword used for fighting may be trying to push the envelope back from the 1970 rehilted lineage to suggest a thicker stiff bladed sword of earlier provenance... when in fact no such weapon exists... save for the fake, rehilted, Red Sea variants already outlined.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

Well seeing documented early 20th century and 19th century examples can only help with particular question don't you think?