Addendum
Pertaining to the comments in my previous post and the 'Lohr' panel,
I wanted to explain more on my suggestion, and as noted, wanted to look further into these kinds of inscriptions which are enclosed in a 'panel' of sorts. I found that the proper term is 'Loh' (Loh e Qurani) and literally loh means tablet.
Apparently these have letters (rumooz) which are the first letters of Surahs in the Holy Quran, if I understand correctly, and in this sense may serve as a blessing or in that manner.
It would seem that a blade with such inscription would be intended to an important figure in the tribal society in Sudan.
That is my speculation based on what I have found so far, and I would look forward to any erudition from those better versed in these religious matters and these kinds of inscriptions.
Some time back we did research on the thuluth calligraphy well known on blades of various weapons during the Mahdiyya and while the repetitive characters were once regarded as decorative, it seems these were actual phrases from Quranic verses along with other invocations.
Regarding the enigma marking......those are found also on Solingen blades with the standing knight figure (Weyersburg) which were well circulated through the Sudan.
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