Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Edster · Today, 03:52 PM

Marc,

Thanks for posting another of Awad Adam's excellent swords. Note the tapered blade hand made entirely by eye and exact forge strikes. The quality appears as good or better than any munitions grade made in Solingen in the 19th C. This is why it's often difficult to tell between "local" and "imported" blades. I guess most Mahdiya Era swords were made with imported blades and those in the 20th C. were made with locally made blades. Also, the about 1960s or so the Kassala swords began to be exported country-wide so they were widely distributed. I'm sure that almost everyone outside of the bigger city was armed with a sword for protection and/or culture even to the 1980s when I was there.

Here's a video of a sword trader lamenting the decline in sword interest/use, 8 years ago. (skip the dog part as it precedes the Kaskara part)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKGAb6XUKAc

Sword smith at work 7 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwvGpbYhms

Best,
Ed

Today, 03:52 PM	#4
Edster Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 440	Marc, Thanks for posting another of Awad Adam's excellent swords. Note the tapered blade hand made entirely by eye and exact forge strikes. The quality appears as good or better than any munitions grade made in Solingen in the 19th C. This is why it's often difficult to tell between "local" and "imported" blades. I guess most Mahdiya Era swords were made with imported blades and those in the 20th C. were made with locally made blades. Also, the about 1960s or so the Kassala swords began to be exported country-wide so they were widely distributed. I'm sure that almost everyone outside of the bigger city was armed with a sword for protection and/or culture even to the 1980s when I was there. Here's a video of a sword trader lamenting the decline in sword interest/use, 8 years ago. (skip the dog part as it precedes the Kaskara part) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKGAb6XUKAc Sword smith at work 7 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiwvGpbYhms Best, Ed Last edited by Edster; Today at 04:08 PM. Reason: added second video.