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- Thread starter Riddick1
- Start date
What's the object?
Could you be a bit more specific?
What? The sword or the text?
I think so.
So, is it a katana, a tanto, a wakizashi ...?
All of them are Japanese swords, so the text probably is Japanese.
But, maybe old Japanese:
...tachi are known to have been made in the Kotō period, ranging from 900 to 1596.
Tachi - Wikipedia
It's not Arabic.
In similar situations, knowing the nature of the object and its provenance helps understanding the language and deciphering the writing.
It's vaguely similar to Mongolian script. If it's Mongolian it should be read vertically.
Apparently in Japan they use three different kind of scripts. The Kanji, derived from Chinese ideographic script, and the Hiragana and Katakana, which are the native Japanese syllabic scripts.
The script on the sword could be in Hiragana, which has sinuous shapes, while the Katakana is more squared and geometrical. Moreover the writing on the sword could be a little stylish and harder to decipher because it seems to be made to follow the shape of the blade.
The script on the sword could be in Hiragana, which has sinuous shapes, while the Katakana is more squared and geometrical. Moreover the writing on the sword could be a little stylish and harder to decipher because it seems to be made to follow the shape of the blade.
Maybe it's just a hoax? 
Fake!
That was my first thought, too. The symbols on the left look like Egyptian hieroglyphs (snake + 2 x bread).
Or a "Rosetta" sword.
It's not Sanskrit.
I know nothing about swords but the inscription does not look like a real script of an existing language.
I think that's what clamor, ballenero and Demiurg meant.
I think that's what clamor, ballenero and Demiurg meant.
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Yes it is. But maybe it's a set of symbols -- I mean, not ''letters''?