Salaams Jim, Great points. Thank you for delving into the reference books.
I would like to address the subjects Terminology, National Emblem, Dancing Swords and Curved Kattara. Please be advised that this post carries a bombshell suggestion (or two) on the entire subject...
Terminology. Sayf is the old Arabic word for Sword. Kattara came on a few hundred years ago say in 1750 from who knows where? It is not an Arabic word. This raises the question that before 1750 what did they call such curved swords present in Oman like Shamshir etc ? The answer is they called all swords Sayf !
Where did the word Kattara come from? It occured to me that there are a number of swords that sound very like Kattara such as Kastana, Kaskara or Katana. Taking the most likely line of influence African influence rather seems possible. The outsider from Japan though it is a massive distance gets on the radar screen because of the shape of the hilt. Although Omanis showed the Portuguese the sea route to China I have up to now not looked to that region for influence and on comparing handle construction there are many differences not to mention no Tsuba on the Omani Hilt. I therefore only mention it on passing.
What is odd is the appearance of the long hilt on both Sayf and Kattara at around the same time and I ask the question which came first and why?
National Flag. The fact that the two crossed curved Kattara appears on the national flag may indicate its priority.
Dancing Swords. We speak about the Long Flexible Sayf but it burns a hole in my research regarding its fighting prowess. My own style of Martial Art is Kyokushinkai though to mix it up a little I trained with Japanese and Chinese weapons for a few years. I have to say I have never rated the long flexible Omani Sayf though I have seen demonstrations of it slicing through various products (that weren't fighting back!) but only with the sweet part of the blade not the end section. I can not find a single event in history which the weapon was used in a fight skirmish or war. There are good reasons for this... one in particular... because it's not a fighting sword. It's a dancing sword.
As a pageant only sword it explains why we have been tilting at windmills and may be why the European Trade Blade is entirely spurious. It may also go someway to explain why the dancing sword was never made in exotic steel with wootz in Oman although I know there are one or two around probably special commissions out of India.
For this reason I support the appearance of the curved Kattara first perhaps around 1750 but not displacing the short battle sword at all. The Short Omani Sayf remained as the weapon of war (this is a formidable chop, hack, slash and stabbing short sword) though because of gunpowder weapons its eventual decline was assured. We were right to consider the two swords being used over a few hundred years, but I reason, one is the fighting stiff sayf while other flexible sayf is for displays and dancing only. The use of the same shield is purely convenience.
The take off of the long hilt onto the Funoon dancing sword was therefore entirely natural. The Kattara curved single edged weapon, on the other hand, is a real killer and in fact is more the "chop chop" executioner weapon and worn more as a badge of office whereas in fact the flexible dancing Sayf is not ...
The flexible dancing Sayf never attained the Iconic status of the Old Sayf, The Kattara, The Shamshir or the Zanzibar Nimcha though it was the dancing sword and is still in the Funoon. Before the advent of the flexible Sayf the old Battle sword was used (though more cumbersome) in the traditional Funoon (as in fact was the Khanjar though the later in Salalah).
I see the transition from Africa possibly through the slave trade of the Kattara curved style. I can see how curved trade blades have been re-hilted onto curved Kattara.
The Omani Flexible Dancing Sword (Sayf) is not a weapon per se. and never was: The European Trade link to this sword has thus collapsed. shrug:
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.
After Note; Pictures 1, 2; Showing below a possible transition of
hilt form with influence from Red Sea / Yemen weapons on the eventual transformation of the Flexible Omani Dancing Sayf and in aproximate parallel timewise with the Curved Kattara design.
Picture 3, 4; Some different designs of Curved Kattara (there are others)