Ethiopian swords

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by roanoa

Can we have a close up picture of the ricasso? Is there a "star" stamp?

No. I have the king on one side and the lion on the other.
It's the reason why i think it's a Solingen blade.

[MUFASA]

Very interesting topic.

[ariel]

Here are mine. Both with original scabbards.
Neither are of my primary area of interest, so I might have missed important details.
If anyone needs additional pics, send me a PM and I post more pics here, for everyone to see. Same with questions. I just do not want to overload the topic with unnecessary entries.
Start with the one carrying German blade

[ariel]

And now- with a Russian blade. Imperial Russia ( IR), as always, tried to align herself with faraway nations. Ethiopia was a Christian land surrounded by Islamic nations, a seemingly ideal target. Thus, at the end of the 19th century, IR sent surplus of good old blades there together with " volunteers" and " advisers" ( similar to today situation in Syria)
This blade carries an engraving on its spine " Zlatoust august 1853 year"

[Kubur]

Originally Posted by ariel

And now- with a Russian blade. Imperial Russia ( IR), as always, tried to align herself with faraway nations. Ethiopia was a Christian land surrounded by Islamic nations, a seemingly ideal target. Thus, at the end of the 19th century, IR sent surplus of good old blades there together with " volunteers" and " advisers" ( similar to today situation in Syria)
This blade carries an engraving on its spine " Zlatoust august 1853 year"

Clearly an Ethiopian shashka

[ariel]

" There are no tigers in Africa" ( Monty Python)
And no shashkas in Ethiopia ( Me) :-)

[kronckew]

But...There ARE tigers in Africa!

https://roaring.earth/why-tigers-in-south-africa/

[MUFASA]

Originally Posted by ariel

And now- with a Russian blade. Imperial Russia ( IR), as always, tried to align herself with faraway nations. Ethiopia was a Christian land surrounded by Islamic nations, a seemingly ideal target. Thus, at the end of the 19th century, IR sent surplus of good old blades there together with " volunteers" and " advisers" ( similar to today situation in Syria)
This blade carries an engraving on its spine " Zlatoust august 1853 year"

very interesting blade!!!

[ariel]

Without seeing the sword, I doubt it has filigree in the fullers. My bet is on a simple engraving. I also have a feeling that it might have been reforged to give it a slight curvature: sabers usually do not have double edging. Would be interesting to see the inscription: usually those were located closed to the handle, where bending ( and distortion) would be minimal.

[ariel]

Originally Posted by MUFASA

very interesting blade!!!

Yes, you are correct. The only one I have encountered so far. Likely it is the result of Mashkov’s expedition to Addis Ababa in 1889 and the resulting sales of Russian military equipment to Ethiopia. Russian mountain guns were used at the Battle of Adwa. Likely, my sword is from the same period and the same battle.