Salaams ALL ~ It appears that these blades arrive into Oman with hilts in this fashion bought as bulk purchase then sorted for either immediate sale to tourists or for re hilting on long Omani hilts as Kattara styles and then on for the souks tourists and all. The choice as to which blade get what treatment seems totally random.
As to how old they are is an interesting question as some appear new whilst others have been acid dropped and or buried...or both. It is extremely difficult to deduce the age on these blades. Knowing what is going on, however, helps the collector to make a qualified decision. In Oman there is real antiquity mixed unashamedly with stuff of dubious birth certification
but thats part of the fun at the fair. Tourists on the other hand are very succeptible to being slightly taken in ....but nicely. Same the world over.
We took one Yemeni Nimcha apart recently in the workshop and one simple tap with the hammer disintegrated the entire hilt. On the other hand when the tang is extended and an Omani Long Hilt is applied with pommel the unit is strong. Alternatively the falcon head shaped (and often leather covered hilt) is substituted for the low grade Yemeni one retaining the quite useful blade. What is perhaps more to the point is that this shortish curved blade with an Omani Long Hilt is much more comfortable to wear simply stuffed under a sash or simple belt and worn in the badge of office role ...not as weapons... something I suspect may have also happened in the Bedouin sense since these variants with the flimsy made hilts would fall apart at the first contact... if, in fact, they ever saw service with Bedouin at all.
My theory is that in 1948 through 1952 the Jewish artesans largely vanished from Yemen and with their demise, in terms of effect upon the local quality of work, weapons of a lesser quality emerged. There are scores if not hundreds in Mutrah. Estimating the total weight of these weapons sold in Mutrah may extend into the THOUSANDS!!
[B]This is quite important actually since it is the solution, or part of it, to the supply of Kattara blades "of this nature" into Oman. However, if you ask me how many Omanis now buy these short curved swords/converted nimchas
on Omani long hilts, irrespective of the age of the blades (and some are old~ 100, 150 years) I would have to say...none. I think the time has passed when Omani men carried this style of weapon and it has slipped away into history...though I still see the odd old gentleman wearing them and I have never seen an Omani with the rough Yemeni hilt...never.
Please see
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10455 #25 #47 #88 #154 #241(this is an Ethiopian ~German Blade which had a tang extension and pommel done) and #325 (first photo) where blades imported variously and many Yemeni poorly done hilts are reconstructed with Falcon Heads and Omani Longs ~ for the tourist market.
As a late added note to this post I should add that it is worth looking beyond the Yemen delivery date of these swords and in discovering that these blades many of which are quite bona fide steels often from Europe via Africa and a lot which were properly hilted found there way onto proper swords around the region. I assume that there are great stocks of these in storerooms in Sanaa but I have no evidence except in calculating the numbers pumped through Mutrah...and that is never easy. For sure items get the antique treatment and leather and hide are easy to confuse by burying while blades look 200 years older after the acid trick...In conclusion its always a good idea to look around to see whats being done and if the trend indicates there are lots of items like this being floated as original battle swords of the Bedouin
you can bet they aren't. Then verbally having beaten the truth out of the seller that they may be Yemeni you just have to search a little deeper and ask yourself the question ...why are they here?
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.