Lot 269
Sword in Ornate Silver Scabbard with Names of Craftsman and Owner – Gaza, 19th Century / Inscription Dated 1935
Long sword, Palestinian Arab. Gaza, [19th century]. Housed in decorated silver scabbard with inscription dated 1355 [= 1935 CE according to the Muslim calendar].
Silver, repoussé, punched, and engraved; silver thread; iron; wood and cardboard.
Long sword with wooden hilt, iron blade, and silver scabbard. Scabbard decorated entirely in silver thread and repoussé, in vegetal and geometric patterns as well as with crescents, and, adjacent to hilt, with two hand symbols.
Two Arabic names engraved along the edges of the scabbard, most likely those of the owner of the sword-and-scabbard, and the craftsman who fashioned them: "Abu Salem Abu Me'ilak" / "Helmi Atallah al-Tarazi, Gaza, 1355" [= 1935 CE according to the Muslim calendar]. The craftsman Helmi Atallah al-Tarazi is a member of an old and well-known generation of Christian Arab silversmiths in Gaza.
91X9 cm. Scabbard consists of three detachable parts. Blemishes and warping. Rust to blade.
