Writing on an Ethiopian blade

Terry K · 15th February 2019, 09:01 PM

My friend picked up a nice Ethiopian sabre with this on the blade and we are having trouble translating it. Any help would be appreciated.

kahnjar1 · 15th February 2019, 10:04 PM

Hi Terry,
Can't help with the actual translation, but the language is AMHARIC. Hope this helps. Can you please post a pic of the whole sword.
Stu

Battara · 16th February 2019, 02:59 AM

I agree with Stu, this is Amharic, and according to forum rules, we need you to post pictures of the whole piece please.

roanoa · 17th February 2019, 02:22 AM

Waiting to see the whole blade, I will venture to say that this line appears right below the portrait of Menelik II? I have found it in both straight and curved European blades.

Martin Lubojacky · 18th February 2019, 06:58 AM

There is allegedly written "Mohamed Ali kubanya", which means "Mohamed Ali Co.". This is probably supplier company (I saw it on two different blades, too.). Pls post the whole picture

roanoa · 18th February 2019, 09:19 PM

Well, I was waiting to see the sword (German?), but since Martin jumped the gun.... Here it is. Martin is correct. It is the name of one of the major importer of weaponry in Ethiopia. Muhammed Ali was based in Harar. He imported several patterns of the Wilkinson blades as well, with his name written in English on the spine of the blade. His name was on occasion spelled wrongly as Muhammedalli (one word), as in this case. There is no "end of word dots" between Muhammed and Ali and so it would read as one word. The second word is the phonetic rendition in Amharic of the word COMPANY.

Jim McDougall · 19th February 2019, 12:30 AM

Well done Martin!!!
It is extremely difficult to interpret phrases and inscriptions on sword blades without context. I dont believe many who post for translations realize that these inscriptions often are not necessarly verbatim as with translating out of a letter or book. They are often copied by workers who are not speakers of the language being used, or of course perhaps illiterate.

Having the entire sword gives us a better idea of what nationality and periods may be involved so we can better interpret the words in question.

Thank you Martin and Ron for the identification and detail !!!

kahnjar1 · 19th February 2019, 03:39 AM

....but still no pic of the whole item

Battara · 19th February 2019, 05:09 AM

Terry you have pm

Terry K · 20th February 2019, 02:05 PM

Gentlemen,
Please forgive me. I cannot get any larger pictures to load. I will try again in next day or so as I don't have the sword here and dumped other ones I took. I also was not receiving notifications from the form in my email but think I fixed that problem.
Terry

Terry K · 28th February 2019, 02:55 PM

Thanks all that answered! I sent via email the pictures of the sword, overall and close up, to a member who said he would post them .
Thanks for your patience,
Terry

Battara · 3rd March 2019, 07:06 AM

Here are the resized pictures:

Terry K · 4th March 2019, 08:54 AM

Thanks for resizing them for me

Battara · 4th March 2019, 07:41 PM

My pleasure 😇

Martin Lubojacky · 13th March 2019, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

There is allegedly written "Mohamed Ali kubanya", which means "Mohamed Ali Co.". This is probably supplier company (I saw it on two different blades, too.). Pls post the whole picture

I learned incidentally, that founder of the Mohamedally Co. was businessman Mohamed Ally Shaikh Sharafaly. I am quoting from the book/brochure "Addis Ababa old Piazza" by Centre Francais des études éthiopiennes:He was an Indian from Gujurat. He had first set foot in Harar in the early 1890 and he made his start through business ventures with Ras Makonnen, the governor of the city/region. The firm he had created with other British-Indian partners reached its apogee in 1930s. That time it was, as it is written in the brochure, the largest "British" trading company in Ethioia.

Terry K · 13th March 2019, 06:49 PM

Very interesting, thanks

15th February 2019, 09:01 PM	#1
Terry K Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 86	Writing on an Ethiopian blade My friend picked up a nice Ethiopian sabre with this on the blade and we are having trouble translating it. Any help would be appreciated. Attached Images

18th February 2019, 09:19 PM	#6
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 235	Well, I was waiting to see the sword (German?), but since Martin jumped the gun.... Here it is. Martin is correct. It is the name of one of the major importer of weaponry in Ethiopia. Muhammed Ali was based in Harar. He imported several patterns of the Wilkinson blades as well, with his name written in English on the spine of the blade. His name was on occasion spelled wrongly as Muhammedalli (one word), as in this case. There is no "end of word dots" between Muhammed and Ali and so it would read as one word. The second word is the phonetic rendition in Amharic of the word COMPANY. Attached Images

3rd March 2019, 07:06 AM	#12
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,225	Here are the resized pictures: Attached Images

15th February 2019, 10:04 PM	#2
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,739	Hi Terry, Can't help with the actual translation, but the language is AMHARIC. Hope this helps. Can you please post a pic of the whole sword. Stu

16th February 2019, 02:59 AM	#3
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,225	I agree with Stu, this is Amharic, and according to forum rules, we need you to post pictures of the whole piece please.

17th February 2019, 02:22 AM	#4
roanoa Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 235	Waiting to see the whole blade, I will venture to say that this line appears right below the portrait of Menelik II? I have found it in both straight and curved European blades.

18th February 2019, 06:58 AM	#5
Martin Lubojacky Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Czech Republic Posts: 841	There is allegedly written "Mohamed Ali kubanya", which means "Mohamed Ali Co.". This is probably supplier company (I saw it on two different blades, too.). Pls post the whole picture

19th February 2019, 12:30 AM	#7
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,948	Well done Martin!!! It is extremely difficult to interpret phrases and inscriptions on sword blades without context. I dont believe many who post for translations realize that these inscriptions often are not necessarly verbatim as with translating out of a letter or book. They are often copied by workers who are not speakers of the language being used, or of course perhaps illiterate. Having the entire sword gives us a better idea of what nationality and periods may be involved so we can better interpret the words in question. Thank you Martin and Ron for the identification and detail !!!

19th February 2019, 03:39 AM	#8
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,739	....but still no pic of the whole item

19th February 2019, 05:09 AM	#9
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,225	Terry you have pm

20th February 2019, 02:05 PM	#10
Terry K Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 86	Gentlemen, Please forgive me. I cannot get any larger pictures to load. I will try again in next day or so as I don't have the sword here and dumped other ones I took. I also was not receiving notifications from the form in my email but think I fixed that problem. Terry

28th February 2019, 02:55 PM	#11
Terry K Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 86	Thanks all that answered! I sent via email the pictures of the sword, overall and close up, to a member who said he would post them . Thanks for your patience, Terry

4th March 2019, 08:54 AM	#13
Terry K Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 86	Thanks for resizing them for me

4th March 2019, 07:41 PM	#14
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,225	My pleasure 😇

13th March 2019, 06:49 PM	#16
Terry K Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 86	Very interesting, thanks