Need help with blade mark

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Jerseyman

A similar mark on a shamshir that recently went through the auction process.

This is a Yemeni sa'if actually so technically not a shamshir, but these are simply descriptive terms as used colloquially in the arms community. It appears to be a modern hilting using much older blade, likely Solingen. This cosmological grouping as placed on the blade seems to be a well used mark by local armorers in these regions in early to mid 19th c. on these older well circulated blades.
It has been noted in a number of cases concerning swords from these areas in Arabia that considerable numbers of vintage blades were acquired from Bedouin sources in trading, many being mounted in these more modern but traditional style hilts.

It seems that the crescent and stars were used on the flag of Muhammed Ali, Ottoman ruler of Egypt c.1820, and these crescent and stars configurations were used on blades used from the Maghreb to other Ottoman regions extending of course to Yemen through the century. I have seen crosses (of the Greek type) used along with the crescent as well and it seems in similar placement and configuration, so I am wondering if perhaps this might be an Ottoman arsenal type marking, or that of a particular entrepot in this Ottoman sphere.