That is a very astute observation Jens, as these 'trade' blades did indeed appear often in the Syrian mounts (as seen in the hilt in my avatar) as well as many other swords in Arabia, the Caucusus, India and many other regions which received these exports. These began being produced around the late 18th and early 19th c. in Khorassan, Qazvin and Isfahan, and continued even later .
It is my impression from the rather straight type blade, and the fact that this does appear to be one of these Persian trade blades, this is likely an Arab Bedouin sword and quite likely imported via Baghdad rather than Damascus. The Arabs preferred Persian blades and swords, and the hilt on this sword is distinctly of Persian shamshir style.
Oliver Pinchot wrote a magnificent paper on the topic of these blades titled "The Persian Shamshir:and the Sign of Assad Allah" ("Arms Collecting", Vol.40, #1, February 2002) and on p.8 he notes, "...Persian damask blades were still greatly prized among Bedouin Arabs a century later (from 1811) . Elgood mentions the unification of the Aniza tribes under the Amir of Rwala, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who traded at Damscus and Baghdad".
This blade appears to have a very good quality watered blade (and I would defer to those he more well versed in metallurgy) but still carrying the devotional panel on one side of the blade and the stylized lion pictogram characteristic of these trade blades.
Best regards,
Jim
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