Bulgarian (?) yataghan with inscription

Yannis · 9th March 2005, 10:23 AM

TVV

The script is not Greek. At least in a form (ancient, Byzantine, dimotiki, katharevousa, etc) that we can decipher. But your post is very interesting and reminds me few things.

The majority of people in Balkan peninsula in 19th century were illiterate. Bladesmiths often tried to “write” words without knowledge (or very poor knowledge) of the alphabet. Usually the customer gave them these words on a piece of paper and they copied the symbols.

Imagine a nice phrase on a sword. This sword goes to a bladesmith for restoration. He copies the phrase in a new sword although he is illiterate. Maybe later he copies it again, this time from the new sword. The phrase is not readable anymore…

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9th March 2005, 10:23 AM	#6
Yannis Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Athens Greece Posts: 479	TVV The script is not Greek. At least in a form (ancient, Byzantine, dimotiki, katharevousa, etc) that we can decipher. But your post is very interesting and reminds me few things. The majority of people in Balkan peninsula in 19th century were illiterate. Bladesmiths often tried to “write” words without knowledge (or very poor knowledge) of the alphabet. Usually the customer gave them these words on a piece of paper and they copied the symbols. Imagine a nice phrase on a sword. This sword goes to a bladesmith for restoration. He copies the phrase in a new sword although he is illiterate. Maybe later he copies it again, this time from the new sword. The phrase is not readable anymore…