Hi Geoffrey,
You are right. This is a better and early example, because it is authentic and not made for the bazaar. The dog-leg shape of the blade, the brass plates on the hilt and the lead or tin stars are typical for daggers made around 1900, give or take 15 years. They are not uncommon because they were widely used in Southern Syria. I will ask a friend for the translation. The 2nd hand sheet of the scabbard is a common phenomenon, mostly from between the wars. It could well be a replacement because most had scabbard of thin brass sheet over wooden core, and these don't last.
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