Origin: Berbers, (Kabyle, Algeria)

Local name: fliss (amazigh language)

Dating: early 20th century

Dimensions:

MŻo/A/3984, dagger: length 35.8 cm, hilt diameter 2.3 cm

MŻo/A/3985/a-b, dagger: length 40.5 cm, hilt height 4.3 cm, width 1.8 cm; scabbard: length 30.3 cm, height 3.0 cm, width 2.0 cm

MŻo/A/3986/a-b, dagger: length 35.7 cm, hilt height 4.5 cm, width 1.8 cm; scabbard: length 26.0 cm, height 3.4 cm, width 1.6 cm

Made of wood and metal, mostly blacksmith techniques

Acquired by Adam Rybiński,

MŻo/A/3984 - an antique shop from France, Catawiki auction, 2021,

MŻo/A/3985/a-b - an antique shop from France, eBay auction, 2018,

MŻo/A/3986/a-b - an antique shop from France, Catawiki auction, 2021.

Description:

The name of the dagger (flyssa or flissa) was given by the French, it comes from the name of one of the Kabyle Berber subgroups called Iflisen [Tirri 2007: 618]. It is a distinctive weapon of the Kabyle people (Berbers of Algeria). Due to the fact that blades of flyssa can be of very different length (30-97 cm), sometimes in the literature they are classified as swords (sabers), and sometimes as knives. Unlike many examples of North African weapons which are equipped with European blades, flyssas are always made entirely by local artisans. This type of weapon was used to piercing through chainmail which in Algeria was still worn in the 19th century [Stone 1999: 234]. It is classified as a cutting weapon.

The flyssa is a weapon with single-edged blade, which come to an acute point. Its blade is often decorated with chiselled patterns. The hilt does not have a guard, and the connection between the blade and the hilt is a metal bolster. The pommel of the grip is almost always made of wood covered with brass by using techniques of repoussé and chasing, usually decorated with the animal's (mostly dog or camel) head pointing downwards [Evangelista 1995: 254].

The author describing the flyssa from the Pitt Rivers Museum points to its unusual concave cross-section running along the blade, which has attracted the attention of art historians. Some of them claim that the characteristic shape indicates its origin, reminiscent of ancient Greek swords with concave blades called machaira, such as those used by the armies of Alexander the Great. It is likely that this kind of sword could be brought to Algeria by the Carthaginians, who themselves were of Phoenician origin. Saying this, it should also be noted that the hilt is similar to the hilt of Arab-Persian-Indian shamshirs [n.a., n.d.].

n.a., n.d., Flissa (1884.24.121), http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/weapons/index.php/tour-by-region/africa/africa/arms-and-armour-africa-2/index.html, access 19.10.22.

Evangelista Nick, 1995, The Encyclopedia of the Sword, Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.                     

Stone George Cameron, 1999,  A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times, New York: Dover Publications Inc.

Tirri Anthony C., 2007, Islamic nad Native Weapons of Colonial Africa 1800-1960, Indigo Publishing.

 Edited by Lucjan Buchalik

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The purchase is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport as part of the National Institute of Museums and Collections' own program "Expansion of museum collections".