An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

  • An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife

An Upcurving Kabyle Flyssa (Flissa) Knife
Iflissen Lebhar Tribal Confederacy
Kabylia, French Algeria (Algeria)
Last half 19th century (ca. 1850 - 1870)
Steel, wood, brass
Blade: 30,5cm
Hilt & Blade: 40,6cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2021
Collection Number: 248

The flissa is the traditional weapon of the Iflissen Kabyles, an ethnic Berber group originating from the Atlas Mountain Range in Northern Algeria. Their weapons range from small knives to very long swords, most of which are very consistent in design using brass inlays and geometric motifs.

This example is the knife, in a lesser common upcurving variant. It does show some condition issues regarding blade rust and pitting, but it serves as an early example, likely from around the 1860s.

The single- edged steel blade curves upwards tapering to a point. Traditional geometric brass inlays and motifs are inlaid for the entirety of the blades length, as well as an engraved brass zig-zag pattern (snake) on the spine. The handle is carved from wood in the form of an animal head (camel, dog, bird, chimara) covered in brass triangular and linear designs. Steel bolster with engravings.

The last three photos show a near identical flissa knife held in the hand of a North African Courier in the orientalist diorama titled "Lion Attacking a Dromedary" by Èdouard Verreaux in which he created for the Paris Exposition of 1867. The diorama is currently housed at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.