Flyssa (Flissa) Sword
Iflissen Lebhar Tribal Confederacy
Kabylia - Regency of Algiers, Ottoman Algeria (Algeria)
Last half 18th century
Steel, wood, brass
Blade: 63,8cm (Including bolster)
Hilt & Blade: 74,3cm
Hilt, Blade, Sheath: -cm
Collection Date: 2018
Collection Number: 12

Ex. French Art Market (2018)

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 a very early sword version of the form derived from the Ottoman yataghan. Older flyssas have a more solid, simpler construction, have a better weight balance, and are usually less fanciful than their later counterparts. They are also shorter in dimensions and have a broader recurve to the blade.

The straight single- edged steel blade has a thickened spine with an outward curve before recurving with a top false edge at approximately 3/4 blade's length. The blade tapers into an acute sharp needle- like point at the end. Decorated with traditional brass inlaid geometric triangles, crosses, crescents, and scroll engravings for almost the entirety of the blade. The engravings possibly represent Berber astrological symbolism of the sky, sun, and moon.

Steel bolster with an iron full tang attached to the wooden slab grips with remnants of brass sheet covering. There is a chip to the wood on one side of the pommel, while most of the brass sheet is now missing.

A powerful and early true fighting short sword of the Kabyle. This style of flyssa was popular during the Barbary Corsair period of the Ottoman Regency of Algiers.

[1] Claude, Eric. 2020. “The Small Catalog of Moroccan and Algerian Edged Weapons. Pages 160 – 161

[2] Spring, Christopher. 1993. “African Arms and Armor”. Pages 21 -24

[3] https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-145965

[4] http://www.africanarms.com/gallery?flyssa-with-end-17th-early-18th-cent-blade