Kattara for comments

Jim McDougall · 25th October 2011, 04:46 AM

The karabela hilt broadsword shown by A. Ainakkas is actually of a type mentioned in Elgood (1994, p.16) where they are described as with nimcha type blades, hilt karabella like in form with sheet or other metal partly covering the horn or wood grips. It is noted that Arabian traders claim these are often in suqs in Riyadh but are acquired in Yemen.
He also cites E.W.Lane writing in Cairo in 1835 ("The Modern Egyptians", 1836, repr. 1908) describing import and export of straight sword blades from Germany for the Nubians and that these are the type seen on kaskaras.
Actually the blades seen on kaskaras are occasionally seen on kattaras as far as I have seen and recalled, and it seems that a number of blades which are straight broadswords and with Amharic script and Lion of Judah intended for Abyssinia from German producers are found hilted in San'a.

The markings seen on this blade appear to be native applications of markings known on blades from the Kirschbaum group of manufacturers in Solingen, many of which amalgamated in the 19th century...the crescent moon and grouping of stars usually appeared with 6 stars, and sometimes with three and three crescents (Bezdek, p.152)and this may be interpretative version. German blades into the Condominium in Egypt after Omdurman and British occupation often entered Red Sea trade into Aden as well, and probably from there into Yemen into the 20th c.
These kinds of hilts are relatively common but usually have the shorter blades as noted.

The use of copied markings long established in Europe, particularly Solingen, is quite common on native blades in Sudan and Egypt. Typically these were seemingly chosen for talismanic value, perceived from the attention given to the original quality implication in trading the blades. While use of the running wolf had waned in Europe after the 18th century, it had found new life in Caucasian blades well known in Arabia from Ottoman presence, and was also known in the Sudan presumably from related trade networks of theRed Sea.

Best regards,
Jim

25th October 2011, 04:46 AM	#11
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,938	The karabela hilt broadsword shown by A. Ainakkas is actually of a type mentioned in Elgood (1994, p.16) where they are described as with nimcha type blades, hilt karabella like in form with sheet or other metal partly covering the horn or wood grips. It is noted that Arabian traders claim these are often in suqs in Riyadh but are acquired in Yemen. He also cites E.W.Lane writing in Cairo in 1835 ("The Modern Egyptians", 1836, repr. 1908) describing import and export of straight sword blades from Germany for the Nubians and that these are the type seen on kaskaras. Actually the blades seen on kaskaras are occasionally seen on kattaras as far as I have seen and recalled, and it seems that a number of blades which are straight broadswords and with Amharic script and Lion of Judah intended for Abyssinia from German producers are found hilted in San'a. The markings seen on this blade appear to be native applications of markings known on blades from the Kirschbaum group of manufacturers in Solingen, many of which amalgamated in the 19th century...the crescent moon and grouping of stars usually appeared with 6 stars, and sometimes with three and three crescents (Bezdek, p.152)and this may be interpretative version. German blades into the Condominium in Egypt after Omdurman and British occupation often entered Red Sea trade into Aden as well, and probably from there into Yemen into the 20th c. These kinds of hilts are relatively common but usually have the shorter blades as noted. The use of copied markings long established in Europe, particularly Solingen, is quite common on native blades in Sudan and Egypt. Typically these were seemingly chosen for talismanic value, perceived from the attention given to the original quality implication in trading the blades. While use of the running wolf had waned in Europe after the 18th century, it had found new life in Caucasian blades well known in Arabia from Ottoman presence, and was also known in the Sudan presumably from related trade networks of theRed Sea. Best regards, Jim