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Old 11th July 2013, 03:22 PM   #1
Dmitry
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Default Arabian shamshir with Hungarian blade

Just wanted to share the photos of this great sword with you. Even though this is not my area of collecting, I can appreciate the beauty of it. Blade is massive, 82 cm-long, almost 4 cm-wide. An interesting detail is the old typewritten label stating that someone named Frank F. Blackburn purchased it in Mozul, at the Thieves Bazar in 1930.
The blade is inscribed AUT VINCER MO HUNGARIA, which I roughly translated from Latin as VICTORY FOR MY HUNGARY, and is engraved with figures in hussar dress. Elgood describes blades like that as Majar, an Arabic for Magyar, which means 'a Hungarian' in Hungarian language. Apparently they were prized by the arabs for their quality.
I think the blade is probably earlier than the rest of the sword. I would date the sword to the 19th c., and the blade to 18th c.
Your opinions are welcome.
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