Jim and Ham, thanks for the references, I will look them up.
Some interesting questions reguarding the adaptation of the Ottoman yataghan (BSY or regular kind) to the flyssa form are why was it done? Why straighten the blade and add a back edge? If a cavalry weapon, why not simply keep the nimcha and the other known berber sword form with the peculiar tip.
Further, where did the zoomorphic pommel as it looks on refined flyssa come from? Its specific form is not seen on other swords, even if the lobed shaped has Ottoman precedents. My point is that it must have had a period of development independent of Ottoman examples.
If the Iflissen and other tribes had a lucrative industry producing these swords, why import or keep mimicking yataghan blades?
Too many unanswered questions in my mind to convince me fully
but if the decorations are Turkic as Ham says, then the example I posted really gives me pause to reconsider. The article by Lacoste-Dujardin is the only published material I could find dedicated to these swords...the literature on them really ought to be updated.
These question really should be debated over a bottle of good liquor as Ariel so often suggests
would make for some good times.
Emanuel