On the Origins of the so-called Berber Sabres

[Marc]

Originally Posted by TVV

Sad news indeed, Marc. Are there any arms and armor related museums in Barcelona that I should visit?

Uh.... no. Not really. Nothing really worth going out of your way just for the weapons themselves. To be sincere, Barcelona has a lot of unique and wonderful places to visit, including a lot of excellent museums. My reccomendation is that you enjoy your visit and wait to go elsewhere (Madrid, for example) to see remarkable arms and armour collections (specially european).

On the other hand, aside from the most usual touristic routes, if you happen to have some spare time, you might want to try the Ethnological Museum or even the the Maritime Museum , out of curiosity, if you like the subject (a 1:1 scale reproduction of a 16th c. galley, anyone? ).

[TVV]

Another example with interesting inscriptions in Spanish ended on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

On one side the inscription is "Para Los Valientes ____enos", as opposed to "Para Los Valientes Dominicanos" on one of mine. On the other is what looks like a regimental marking - can someone read and decipher it? If this sword can be ascribed to a military unit, then that would likely provide a conclusive answer on who used these interesting swords. In any case, the Berber attribution seems more and more unlikely.

I am attaching some pictures from the auction.

Regards,
Teodor

[carlos]

I have seen another sword like this, with the words Para Los valientes Cibaenos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cibao
and on the other II HYD VT IA PTO PLATA. This is the link, with this PC I can,t copy the pictures, sorry.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K%3AMEDWX%3AIT
best regards
carlos