Nimchas in the Grand Master Palace Armory in Valletta

[TVV]

I recently visited the Grand Master Palace in Valletta and its armory is quite remarkable, but for me the most interesting part of the exhibits is the extensive collection of early nimchas. This thread is entirely about these nimchas and other Ottoman swords, and my intent is to share my pictures here. By nimcha here I would mean any sword with the characteristic hilt, including full size blades. There is in general surprisingly little known about the nimchas, and their origin, both when it comes to the blade and the hilt. The theory proposed by Anthony North is that they originated from the Italian storta, and a particular nimcha-like storta in the Met is presented as the sole evidence. But is it a case of a weapon, which influenced Islamic sword makers, or rather a case of a sword made to appeal to North African/Ottoman tastes? Given that there are not many similar examples around, I am leaning towards the second personally.

Anyway, let's start with some pictures. The exhibit is quite impressive, with a symmetric arrangement of nimchas of various length flanking a few Ottoman parade shields. Note how many guards are missing the knuckle bow - was it removed on purpose? During those times bucklers would have been used, so having a knuckle bow to take hits perhaps was not as important. I will leave it to HEMA enthusiasts to answer that one.