N African, NE African or Arabian saber???
 

I came across this while diddling today. The tang is the same shape as the handle and wrapped in zinc strips. The leather work on the scabbard at first glance looks African. I thought N African but the leather just does not seem right to me. The horn of Africa fits more to me or even from the Arabian peninsula. I think I have seen handles with metal strips like this before, here on this site? The platted leather around the scabbard mouth makes me think east. I know some of you are pretty hot on Arabian stuff and will no doubt point me in the right direction. Come on pick it to pieces :cool: . Thanks Tim

I THINK IS A BEDUIN SWORD,MAYBE OF THE SINAI, BUT ALWAYS I HAVE SEEN THE HILT WITH METAL STRIPIS, NOT LEATHER.
REGARDS

Tim

That is a wild looking sword with crocodile skin scabbard the blade looks like an old Euro sword blade? Very nice you Brits get the best stuff ;)


Lew

Couldn't the blade be European ?

The sheath looks like pieces I've seen from Cameroon. :confused:

Nice sword, though.

I agree with Carlos. Here is a similar but more elaborate example from Oriental Arms

Thanks chaps, Bedouin, yes I did not think of that.

carlos- The handle is wrapped in zinc metal srips

Lew- It is not covered in croc skin it just looks that way as many pieces have been sewn on to cover the scabbard. I think the blade is European or made where steam hammers were in use like India. Bedouin from Sinai thats great somehow I felt N Africa was wrong. Thanks Tim

Great stuff Yannis.

It is not mine Tim. It belongs to Artzi's personal collection and I suppose it will stay there for long. :D

You did a good score with this piece. They are rare.

Thanks Yannis, it was 14 on the fish and chip scale :) .

Tim

I need a currency converter how much is that in U.S. cheese burgers? :D

Lew

I am intrigued by the blade: it looks much nicer than regular Beduin stuff, with rather sophisticated fulled scheme and not very pronounced curve.
For all I know, it looks like a blade from Caucasian shashka.
A lot of Circassians emigrated to Turkey, Lebanon and what later became Palestine after the Russian conquest of the N. Caucasus. There still are Circassian villages in Israel and they are the elite force and personal King's guards in Jordan. The Beduins got their blades from all sources and a shashka would be a natural "donor".
Check the blade carefully for any markings.

ariel,

Thanks for the interesting information. I was also impressed at the quality of the obvious trade blade when compered to some, notably on many tulwar like weapons. Unfortunately there are no marks. The back of the blade is rounded ,the whole thing feels comfortable in motion. The tang is not the same shape as the handle as I said earlier, on close inspection the tang ends just before the hooked pommel, the gap being filled with some sort of black gum. The scabbard appealed to me the most but the blade is growing on me, as it is more possible that the blade although a trade blade may well not have been made by the usual western European producers. Tim

I have seen similar hilts attributed to the Palestine region.

Salaams Tim Simmons, This Bedu Nimcha? is interesting. I can see a blade mark about an inch on the photo from the hilt no? in the shape of a cross or two. I agree with Ariel. The blade looks like Caucasus. I would say a 19th C trade blade. Ibrahiim

This pieces has slipped through the hands of a couple of members here, by lack of knowing. Which is a shame but somebody has a good thing. :shrug:

The metal wrapping to the sword handle is a bit similar in concept to that on this club I previously posted. There is a club with the same shape in the Pitt- Rivers Museum, described as from Palestine.

Yes, very nice Sinai/Negev Bedouin saber. The black gum is a fixing resin used by most arab artisans for mounting blades, I believe it is terebinth mixed with other minerals.