Yeah, I see it, too, but I also see the part length tang with the big hole, and that's what I'm not sure fits. The transverse forged line at the blade base is seen on Berbese (and on Oceanic SE Asian) work. The three lines seem imitative of triple fullers, which are common and widespread, but certainly fit, and also bear a cetain vague resemblance to the spinal decorations on kodme (Berbese Mediterranean dirks). The human looks REALLY Afrasian to me; so that fits, too; the instant reminding is of ancient Egyptian portraiture, for instance; Ethiopeans, Berbers, Somalis, Arabs are for instance also Afrasian (it's a language group; that's how contemporary anthropologists like to divide humans up, usually). The lion reminds of lions seen on this forum on blades made in Europe for the Ethiopean military (yes?) market. Still suspecting it is NE African (Ethiopean, etc.), and the tang resembles short tangs of jambiya and some qamas/kinzhals/etc. that I've been told are the Persian ones. it's the big hole that throws me or that doesn't fit; everything doesn't have to fit, but I'm just saying. The placement of this hole would require a pin that would pass through the very end of the upper lagnet of a Turkic cross type handguard (ala kilij etc.) at best, or thru just the handle (whether there is such a guard or not), which is seen on some N/W Slavo-Turkic sabres, for instance, and it is a particularly large hole, too.......no solid knowledge on the whole thing, but that's the most mysterious factor to me. My guess remains Afrasian/Islamic/Indo-Persian, and most likely NE African; Ethiopea being kind of most suggested. Of course, there's still nothing to rule out it being European neoclassicism or orientalism or whatnot, except that while the big hole in the tang doesn't seem Afrasian, the weld at the base of the tang doesn't seem like (modern) European cutler work, though in decorative arts....Advice? Try to find/specifically identify the patterns to some cultural context. Is it now or has it been sharp? If the edges are conspicuously flat/squared/rebated that slants things considerably toward an art object/decorator sword/whatever and toward Europe. I don't imagine it is spring tempered, or do you check that kind of thing? Many collectors don't, which is understandable. I even broke a sword once flexing it. It was a bad sword; an European 19th c. wallhanger with a cast iron blade (it turns out
), but it was still not a pleasant experience/memory.....Roanoa's testimony certainly points us to NE Africa.