Historic Saudi sabre sells for $1 m

[ALEX]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

... There was a lot of copying of the name of the great Syrian Sword Maker who was then employed at the Safavid Royal Court...in about 1600... ...
...
If the sword is not Safavid can you id its provenance?
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Hello Ibrahiim,

Certainly, the famous AA signature was copied for centuries and cannot be taken as a sole attribute of provenance, the blade comes first. As for the subject blade, it is of later form, the cartouche is crude and typical Qajar combination of Lion and "O Giver of Life" (or "O Fulfiller of Needs" as per other version of the same translation).

I recommend the great Mr. Oliver Pinchot's article "The Persian Shamshir and the Signature of Assad Allah", it should still be available on-line

Below are few relevant examples: AA cartouche on late Persian Kard, and an ineligible attempt to copy (Shah Abbas? IMHO) on a Qajar blade.
Any ideas on what this cartouche could say? Most cartouches were copied with well known statements, so it's strange that someone just created ineligible/ unreadable one.