An Ethiopian saif

An impressive Ethiopian broadsword or saif. The straight, double-edged blade was probably made in Solingen, Germany and has a spatulate tip with two narrow fullers running almost the entire length of the blade. The fullers are deeply etched with classical scrolling motifs and a crown on one side. On the other side of the blade there is the inscription "ኢትዮጵያ ፡ ታበጽሕ ፡ ዕጸዊሂ ፡ በእግዚአብሔር ፡" which is a quote from Psalms Chapter 68: 31 "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God". The inscription is in Ge'ez, the liturgical language of Ethiopia.
 
On the base of the of the blade is written "ሰርኪስ ቴ" in Amharic above the Lion of Judah and the word "DEPOSÉ". "ሰርኪስ ቴ" is probably a reference to Sarkis Terzian (ሰርኪስ ቴርዚያን) whose name also appears as "S.TERZIAN" on the opposite side of the blade. Terzian (1868-1915) was a higly influential figure in the Ethiopian empire, an arms dealer, and an associate of the Emperor Menelik II.
 
The blade is very well forged and in great condition with only slight some corrosion at the base on one side. The etching is deep and crisp. The tip appears to have been reshaped at one point. It should polish up very nicely indeed.
 
The hilt  is of typically Ethiopian I-shape and appears to be made of Bakelite (a very early form of plastic). This means that the entire sword was probably imported from Germany by Terzian for the Ethiopian market. The bottom two projections of the hilt have been broken off (which is a very common accident with this type of hilt), but this also appears to be very old damage. The tang is peened over a brass pommel dome and the entire structure is solid, although there is a little bit of movement in the blade. As Bakelite was only patented in 1909, and Terzian died in 1915, this makes it possible to date this sword to probably 1910-1914. The provenance also makes it very likely that this sword saw action against the Italians in Ethiopia during World War II.
 
The sword still has its original rawhide sheath. The sheath is still solid, but unfortunately lost its tip at some point.
 
Overall, a very nice sword and interesting both from an African, but also European perspective as broad, double-edged blades had largely disappeared from a domestic European context by this point. 
 
Blade length:  79.5 cm
Overall length:  92 cm
1910-1915