I was given the sword by a friend who collects random swords that catch his eye. This one was a cheap steal for him. I got it as a present seeing as I collect as well. It was badly rusted ,mostly surface but thick with some pitting. I was staring at the blade and realized that it had what looked like carving that got filled with residue over the years. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was hand chiseled and inlay' with gold filigree. It has a large makers mark on either side of the blade right above the hilt. It is also gold, amazing smithing went into this sword before it was so badly mistreated. But the mark consists of a large square made of nine smaller ones, each containing a different symbol. Has anyone heard of this before? I just want to see if I can get some background on this awesome little fixer upper. PLEASE HELP!!! :)

Gotta have some good close-up pics on this one. Could be anything, from priceless to pointless. Pics please. Thanks, ....McM

I found out the whole back story on how he acquired it. It was dug up next to Saddam Hussein's special temple. (name not specified). He dug it up himself on his tour of duty in Iraq. According to him, it was deep in the sand. Will be putting up pictures later on today. I have been working in removing the corrosion to expose the great filigree.

Oh dear, I hope this isn't looting of ancient swords :(

It sure sounds like an Islamic sword. The nine-divided square is a talisman, and the gold-filled engravings both show towards Islamic origin. I'm anxious to see photos...

Going to have the pics up today, it was not looted. It was buried outside his temple, anywhere from 7-10ft from what I have been told. As for the symbols, there are actually 9 squares on one side but there are 11 symbols on the other.