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Originally Posted by randallstorey
Hello everyone and a thanks in advance for any advice to a first time poster.
I bought the kaskara shown in the photos in the late 1980s and after coming across this forum thought that someone may be able to provide some detailed info on it.
Underneath the tang the number 557 is stamped in arabic numerals within a rectangular indentation. The number might be 857 or 357, and this photo shows it from the right hand side where i believe you can see the last two numbers, five and seven.
Two fullers running about 80% length of the blade. The text within them is raised (i assume this isnt done bas relief so was wondering how). The text repeats only a few characters over and over, those being 'II' 'I' and combinations of a paranthses and greater/lesser than symbols, for example (> or >). I do not know how clear that has come across in the photos and am not sure my unsteady hands will allow much better, but obviously willing to try on request.
I am a professional medievalists (my website is medievalstudies.co.uk) and am under no illusion about the origins of this kaskara, but what a strong, sharp, well made thing it is. I told Lee upon joining, this is the closest I'm likely to come to owning a medieval long sword!
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Salaams Randallstorey, These blades really do look medieval.. They appear on all sorts of hilts from Sudan, Ethiopia and Red Sea regions. I collected one with an Indian hilt and another from Saudia.
See post number #48 on
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hiopian+swords for examples of blades on Ethiopian swords.
Some have a lion with a flag on the ricasso(Luckhaus and Gunther) and these and others are scripted and/or florally decorated down the entire blade often with two channels. Indeed Germany was largely responsible for the vast quantities of blades that flooded into Africa in the 18th and 19th Centuries.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.