[Miguel]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Thank you guys for bringing these in, and we have learned a great deal since these earlier discussions. Ed's fantastic field work in Kassala actually predated the key work by Reed ("A Kaskara from Darfur", JAAS, 1987) as he was there in 1984.
I recall discussions with Ed in 2010, and it was noted that these modern interpretations of the 'dukari' moons did seem to represent the Arabic '4' and '0' =40, however it was never clear why that number was chosen. Perhaps simply because the moon 'device' was seen as those numbers in a 'Rohrshach' kind of perspective.

It seems that the duality of the paired moons were seen from early blade examples from Germany, and the crescent moon, important in native folk religion and traditional symbolism was adopted by native artisans. The smiths were considered to be in league with magic powers, and these symbolized magic imbued in the blades, seemingly mostly from Hausa context.
Clearly these notions and devices were transmitted to the east and into the traditions of the later swordsmiths in Kassala and perhaps other locations.

It is interesting that other images such as squiggle marks, letter P in an arc and others also were stamped in blades in this same paired configuration.
Some of the 'dukari' of later make are badly degenerated from worn stamps and often the stamps are not matched.

With the second sword, the singular stamp in the fuller is what is better known as a 'twig' mark, often seen quite early in Italian blades, in threes or sometimes single (Wallace Coll. Mann, 1962, A576, German 1600) but later adopted in German blades. Apparently these may have also been placed inside 'sickle' marks as well, but these may have been Styrian.
These were at times regarded as 'marca mosca' (=the fly) and this may have caused them to be construed by native artisans as the dexterity of the fly signified that skill in a warrior in combat.

One of these is seen in the blade of the 'Sword of Kanta' ("Nigerian Panoply", Bivar) a Nigerian regalia sword. The image shape also resembles the Berber letter 'yaz' which symbolizes 'free man'.
While none are definitive, these are reasonably plausible ideas for these markings as found in native context and as seen in these examples

Hello Jim,
Once again blown away by the depth of your knowledge on this subject, the mind boggles although I am not sure from your comment whether you think that the bottom sword may have an African or European blade!
Regards
Miguel