Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Emanuel · 7th February 2007, 04:32 PM

Hi Jens!
That's the big debate, how old is the flyssa as a type? As Jim said, the first known example dates from 1827, I forget whether this is the one presented to the Spanish king, or whether that one was slightly earlier.
I do wonder about archaological records. There must be some digs that have uncovered earlier examples. Patrick's idea about the bronze sword origin is nice, but not possible I think, unless we find 2000-year old flyssas. I will look into contacting some archeological institutes or groups operating in Algeria...there must be some things simply put down as "sword" that aren't known yet.
Emanuel

7th February 2007, 04:32 PM	#19
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	Hi Jens! That's the big debate, how old is the flyssa as a type? As Jim said, the first known example dates from 1827, I forget whether this is the one presented to the Spanish king, or whether that one was slightly earlier. I do wonder about archaological records. There must be some digs that have uncovered earlier examples. Patrick's idea about the bronze sword origin is nice, but not possible I think, unless we find 2000-year old flyssas. I will look into contacting some archeological institutes or groups operating in Algeria...there must be some things simply put down as "sword" that aren't known yet. Emanuel