Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - A nimcha that was not.... :-)

ariel · 17th December 2012, 12:16 AM

Sometime ago, I saw a saber on e-bay that was advertised as Yemeni Nimcha. Since I am a complete sucker for those little and unsophisticated things, I looked and saw several features that were... welll... bizarre... To make the long story short, I got it. Not for a song, but for much less than a price of a dinner for 4 in a good steakhouse :-)

So, it came.
First thing that struck me was that the blade was of even width throughout, unlike Yemeni things that usually get wider toward the tip. Second, the simple incised decorations were vaguely familiar, but I could not place them other than to notice some european flavor. Also, they showed the Star of David ( well, that's my background; had I been a Muslim, I would have called it Seal of Suleiman:-)). And, even stranger, it had a very realistic picture of a bird. Well, AFAIK, no religious Muslim ( and there were unlikely many atheists or heathens in old Yemen:-)) would have put one on his sword!
And, third, the pommel was of the most unusual shape: not a Badawi one, leaning down, not a Persian one with the 90 degrees angle, and not a "Saudi" one, tilting upward. Instead, it looked like a rounded triangle.

Please see pics now.

17th December 2012, 12:16 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	A nimcha that was not.... :-) Sometime ago, I saw a saber on e-bay that was advertised as Yemeni Nimcha. Since I am a complete sucker for those little and unsophisticated things, I looked and saw several features that were... welll... bizarre... To make the long story short, I got it. Not for a song, but for much less than a price of a dinner for 4 in a good steakhouse :-) So, it came. First thing that struck me was that the blade was of even width throughout, unlike Yemeni things that usually get wider toward the tip. Second, the simple incised decorations were vaguely familiar, but I could not place them other than to notice some european flavor. Also, they showed the Star of David ( well, that's my background; had I been a Muslim, I would have called it Seal of Suleiman:-)). And, even stranger, it had a very realistic picture of a bird. Well, AFAIK, no religious Muslim ( and there were unlikely many atheists or heathens in old Yemen:-)) would have put one on his sword! And, third, the pommel was of the most unusual shape: not a Badawi one, leaning down, not a Persian one with the 90 degrees angle, and not a "Saudi" one, tilting upward. Instead, it looked like a rounded triangle. Please see pics now. Attached Images Last edited by ariel; 17th December 2012 at 02:49 AM.