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Originally Posted by blue lander
I can see a family resemblance to those Storta, as well as the Falchion you posted earlier. I have to say it's been fun watching you guys piece together the history of this blade form.
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Salaams blue lander ~ Well much of it has been done before. For example just put into search Storta and heaps of stuff comes up... same with Nimcha, S'boula and the rest.
This thread can run and run.. but it needs input and constructive criticism...Lots of authors have had a go at these linkages some like Burton and Tirri have perhaps been less accurate than others like Buttin.
It is a broad subject reaching across the desert to the Indian Ocean and by sea the long way round as well as desert caravan (the same route that Ibn Battuta took) Transition of sword style and influence is clear on \Zanzibari Nimcha as well as the tantalizing link to the Sri Lankan Kastane. Reverse engineering the designs leads to the city states of Rome, Venice, Constantinople and Genoa...Pressing the button marked slavery, trade and war exposes these swords to international travel to and via South America with the Spanish and into the Indian Ocean aboard Portuguese men of war...
I think for the uninitiated here is a superb place to commence their study...and for me too long perhaps in the blinkered look at Arabian style it is a staggering eye opener.
Here is an idea I had about crosses which have obviously different meanings depending on where you're from..
This one depicts a huge cross(
http://m.skinnerinc.com/m/auctions/2680B/lots/642 )and is on a Tekke tribal rug in west Turkmenestan used as a door hanging..The cross signifying a welcome light..The flickering light (if you like) of a candle.
The second smaller picture is the clincher with the St. James Cross form clearly depicted on a Moroccan rug.
This raises another important question... Is what we are looking at the famous Cross of St James/Sandiago (like the necklace shown) or something quite different?
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.