Omani Sayf/Saif

[Peter Hudson]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Exactly thats been kinda the elephant in the room. While there were ancient sword hilt forms in the Meditteranean that were well known in Arab context, and in many ways the Abbasid broadsword had characteristics that are seen on numerous 'conical' hilts, we cannot disregard similar forms extant in Africa.
The squared pommel is of course most well known, however there are examples of the 'minaret' style peaked pommels(as seen on the Ibathi swords of interior Nizwa in Oman), also many have the 'cuff' extending over the blade below the hilt.

I am not sure when the 'seme' originated, but it seems a dramatic coincidence it uses similar open hilt style and broadsword blade.

I would note here that influences traveled far via trade networks, and if we go farther west into the Sahara (recalling the Moroccan weapons which arrived as far east as Zanzibar)....think of the Manding saber of Mali.
Open hilt!! curved blade (as on kittareh).
The Manding were controlling trade factors in these regions.
We have already noted the open hilt broadswords of Sierra Leone and the western sector of Africa's slave trade. I have even seen these with 'kaskara' blades.
In the Sahara, even the Tuareg tribes had a curved blade version of their takouba known as 'aljuinar'. It seems plausible these were somewhat influenced by curved kittareh, and there was ready access to French military and other European blades.

Attached, the Manding saber of Mali; an Omani 'kittareh; the Omani sayf with conical hilt; the Maasai 'seme' .

The Maasai who are of course situated in Kenya, did move into Tanzania to the south, which was of course where Zanzibar groups were traversing these regions into those of the Congo.
While the seme traditionally has a more flared blade (almost spatulate) it is still a broadsword and clearly with open hilt, which does not seem to compromise its use. These are used in hunting, utility, etc.

Here I include the Omani sayf for context, showing that its form and these counterparts have intriguing similarities important and pertinent to its discussion.

Hello Jim, Nice to see this old topic appear again and quite understandable how some confusion has developed around Omani weaponry especially swords. I was, as Jim stated earlier, in the Sultanate of Oman actually for almost 40 years and served in their Army for a decade then became involved as an antiques dealer in guns like Abu Futtilla and Martini Henrys and bladed weapons like swords and Khanjars and refer you all to the epic debates that I was involved with on Forum on many of these Omani Weapons. I spent a long time looking at the various Omani Souks like Nizwa Buraimi Muttrah and Salalah as well as the old Forts and Museums ...and a lot of time with locals discussing these old places and their old weapons...What I can say is that in Oman it was as if time had simply stood still...It is a magical place especially the old historical sites and feels like a door had been left open and on entering these ancient places was literally like stepping back 500 years.

What I discovered about swords was and in as brief a note as it takes...was that we had it all muddled, not wrong exactly, but muddled...

Here are the weapons;
1. Sayf Yamaani. The Old Omani Battle Swordes way back to the time of The Prophet. Two Edged. Round Spatulate Tipped...good for chopping and slashing at close quarters...Straight blade with rudimentary Quillons and carried with a small round Shield. I put one into The Tareq Rajeb Museum in Kuwait.

2.The Omani Sayf. This was a sword used to salute the Ruler. For Parade...For celebration ...For Dancing...For mock fighting. It appears in the ancient Funnoon or celebrations and even has its own dance. It has a Two edged sharp blade and a round spatullate tipThe blade is extremely flexibleand will bend back from the tip to the hilt. The Hilt is conical and longSaaid The Great was a great believer in the use of this sword for the masses Tribal infantry to this day do a march past which is like a huge jogging dancing activity praising the ruler...blades shimmering in the air and some being tossed high in the air and caught etc etc. Sword in arabic is Sayf. This is the Omani Sayf. It is given the same shield as was the Sayf at 1. Even important dignatories carried this sword...thus hilts on some could be quite ornately covered. It has sometimes a hole in the pommel probably used to hang on a nail on a wall.

3.The Omani Kittarrah. I was discussing this sword with Jim by e mail and it suddenly struck me ...and him ... that what this was was involved in a discussion we were having about The African Great Lakes...I will cut to the point...Bunyoro Kittara was an important country in the African Great Lakes nd was greatly visitted by Omani Traders as well as Burton ... Book of The Sword fame...and it transpired that Kittara meant Sword and the first word.. Bunyoro meant kingdom so the country was in english The Kingdom of the Sword...Oman traded there big time in particular for Ivory Slaves Giraffe Horn and other goods fabrics and so on...thus the importance of Zanzibar...What came out of Bunyoro Kittarah more importantly for us sword enthusiasts was another blade probably a german Cavalry style but remounted on a long conical Omani hilt straight off the Omani Sayf...BANG!!!!!! A longer blade than the sayf this was curved and sharp on one edge. It was mounted with the Omani Sayf Hilt and carried with a small round Shield...It had a point. Not so flexible.. This was a fighting blade ...
As it happens Omani hunting parties and trading groups all carried these weapons which were identifiers at some distance as being Omani traders... thus were not attacked by local tribal patrols or groups...They had Carte Blanche operating rights in the entire counry of Bunyoro-Kittara.

I will pause here to allow questions...

Regards, Peter Hudson.

Some background threads can be found at Forum just press into search Omani Swords or Omani Shields or Omani Weapons...that should fetch up a load of stuff. ...