EBay Syrian Sword (retitled "Question" thread)

[CharlesS]

Here at last are some pics after a simple etching, not a full polish. The hard part was getting all the goo and hardened oil/grease off the blade.

The blade shows a nice pattern. The koftgari is in good, but not perfect condition.

The koftgari to the fittings is in remarkable condition, as this is easily lost on most of this type.

Now the question of course is the age of the koftgari. Alex has mentioned he believes it is not original to the sword. The slightly crudish cross hatching makes me suspicious. I am not sure, but even if it is not original to the sword, it surely was not applied "yesterday" based on all the gunk I had to get off the blade.

Alex, my guessing about the blade's wootz was based much more on the pics the seller sent me, than on the listing pics. Those pics were slightly better than the listing pics. The charcoal gray blade, with clear irregularities made me suspicious. Thankfully I was right.

Any help with koftgari translation would be appreciated.

Comments and opinions are welcomed.