Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

RhysMichael · 1st February 2007, 05:26 PM

Correct me if I am wrong but I do not think is is incorrect to call this a saif. The term Saif is arabian for sword and usually used with curved blade swords.( A post from Artzi pointed out that this term may have come from Aramaic as it is also used in Hebrew for a straight rapier like sword ) While these Saif or Nimcha are usually attributed to Morroco they are also appearantly found in Zanzibar ( The Zanzibar saif that are a pretty much a type of 'nimcha' have the same basic grip but have a ring on theguard.). Of Interest I have seen one example of a sword with a Nimcha handle and a blade like a toukuba. In a thread with Jim about these he once wrote "It must be remembered that the commonly used term 'nimcha'* for the multi-quilloned Moroccan sabre is actually misapplied, and as in most cases in the Dar-al-Islam is locally considered a sa'if. These Moroccan swords with complex guards were known from at least the earlier 17th century in the Maghreb (which included the Moroccan littoral as far as Algeria)and the hilts are believed to have developed from early Italian sabres via Arab trade."

While we call these Nimcha Robert Elgood in his book "Arms & Armour of Arabia" noted that the literal Arabic term Nimcha ( Nimsha) denotes a 'short sword', which really does not fit these longer swords

A zanzibar sword
http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/...00351/ph-0.jpg

A morrocan sword
http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/...01835/ph-0.jpg

Please feel free to correct me if my impressions on this are wrong

1st February 2007, 05:26 PM	#11
RhysMichael Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Virginia Posts: 520	Correct me if I am wrong but I do not think is is incorrect to call this a saif. The term Saif is arabian for sword and usually used with curved blade swords.( A post from Artzi pointed out that this term may have come from Aramaic as it is also used in Hebrew for a straight rapier like sword ) While these Saif or Nimcha are usually attributed to Morroco they are also appearantly found in Zanzibar ( The Zanzibar saif that are a pretty much a type of 'nimcha' have the same basic grip but have a ring on theguard.). Of Interest I have seen one example of a sword with a Nimcha handle and a blade like a toukuba. In a thread with Jim about these he once wrote "It must be remembered that the commonly used term 'nimcha'* for the multi-quilloned Moroccan sabre is actually misapplied, and as in most cases in the Dar-al-Islam is locally considered a sa'if. These Moroccan swords with complex guards were known from at least the earlier 17th century in the Maghreb (which included the Moroccan littoral as far as Algeria)and the hilts are believed to have developed from early Italian sabres via Arab trade." While we call these Nimcha Robert Elgood in his book "Arms & Armour of Arabia" noted that the literal Arabic term Nimcha ( Nimsha) denotes a 'short sword', which really does not fit these longer swords A zanzibar sword http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/...00351/ph-0.jpg A morrocan sword http://www.oriental-arms.com/photos/...01835/ph-0.jpg Please feel free to correct me if my impressions on this are wrong Last edited by RhysMichael; 1st February 2007 at 05:36 PM.