I'm with you Iain, and hope he sees this thread, possibly this information was in his presentation on the kaskara some years ago to the Arms and Armour Society in London.
I cannot fathom the connection of these notably Islamic swords with the Coptic Priesthood in Egypt, but have some information and thoughts on the unique style of these dual pommel kaskaras in the meantime.
In an exhibition titled "Sudan in the Age of the Mahdi" by Tim Kendall some years ago, he cited that kaskara with twin flattened hollow spheres filled with small beans or pebbles were common with the mounted nobility in Darfur during Mahdist times. Apparantly they would charge full gallop at captuted troops and stop short, waving thier swords with loud rattling over thier heads to frighten them.
This is sourced :
"Mahdism and the Egyptian Sudan" F.R. Wingate London, 1891, p.137
"Ten Years in the Mahdis Camp 1882-1892", same author , 1892 , on Father Ohrwalders ordeal, p.92
One of the swords in the exhibition was of this type. While the example shown here in the original post has the familiar discoid pommel with secondary disc of lesser propertion, the dual concept seems to reflect in it.
As far as the Ethiopian attribution, there was a form of kaskara type sword produced apparantly for Abyssinia or Red Sea trade which had fullered broadsword blades often with Amharic inscriptions and Lion of Judah made usually by Wilkinson. These seem to have been hilted in Yemen with a different crossguard shape and domed pommel which seems to have been repousse silverwork. Perhaps the hollowed pommel on these may have been source for the Ethiopian association. By the same token, though not directly associated there do seem to have been certain connections between the varying Christian Orthodox Copts and those in Ethiopia. Perhaps these elements may account for the associations...hopefully more definitive answer will ensue.
All the best,
Jim
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