Silver Hilted Kaskara for comment

[Wisram]

Hello
I am a new member but a long time knife enthusiast.
I recently got this Kaskara sword that apparently was brought from Africa in WWII and had since lied in a dark corner of the house (previous owner).
It is a little longer then 1 meter, blade has pitting but some kind of decorative etch can be seen on the upper 2/3 of the blade.
On both sides of the ricasso there is a stamp that reads something like "z3002..." or "zs002" I am not really sure.
I was told by a fellow collector that he suspects the blade is Ethiopian. Is it?

The Hilt is silver and so are the metal parts of the scabbard.
The scabbard however is not leather covered but some kind of cloth,
and all is left of the leather straps is a short piece.

I would love to hear your opinion on this sword and any educating detail you can share,
Thank you,
Wisram

[fernando]

Welcome to the forum, Wisram
and ... what about some pictures ?

[Wisram]

Sorry about that, I thought I posted pictures. Trying again.

[Iain]

Yes, that's a European blade made for Ethiopia. Not sure of the exact context of the numbered marking, possibly simply a batch identifier.

Nice piece.

[Wisram]

Thank you Iain. Any way to estimate the age of this sword?

[Iain]

I think when dating pieces like this, its important to make a distinction between the blade and the fittings.

The blade looks to be late 19th century. The hilt and fittings later, at a rough guess mid 20th century. But there are other forum members better at estimating that than myself. Ed is probably the forum member best suited for that and hopefully he sees this thread.

[Wisram]

Thanks again.