Arms Identification Service

Help us keep this Identification Service alive.
Visit our Shopping Site pages and buy from us direct or our visit our Books for Sale pages and buy research materials from one of our affiliates. Proceeds and commissions from these sales - in part - go towards the purchase of additional reference materials and acquisition expenses. You can also send a check or money order as a token of gratitude if this site has proven to be helpful to you. If you send a check or money order, please note on the document that it is intended for the "Research Fund".
Additionally, if there is anything that you would like to see on the following pages - in a weaponry identification sense - please feel free to request such and I will try to add additional information as soons as possible.
Please note - buying an item or sending funds does not guarantee a response. Due to overwhelming response to this website, I may not answer direct; I may simply post new material on the website in hope that will answer your question(s).

• If you E-mail or snail-mail any images to me for use in identification of an item, I reserve the right to use - without further contact - those images on my website, without compensation to you (other than my efforts to assist you, however minimal the result may actually be).
• Please do not send single e-mail image files larger than 250kb, or no larger than 500kb total for multiple images; I will not open them.
• Do not send images in compressed file format(s) such as ZIP extension files; once again, I will not open them.
• Send image(s) in JPG/JPEG format only.

Research materials I have available are quite substantial; however, on some items, information within those materials might be quite sparse. If you choose to snail-mail images, please make sure you have copies or your originals retained for yourself. We do not return images in any format and they become the property of Arms to Armor - The History Store without compensation to you for any use - past, present, or future.

If sending a check or money order, please mail, payable to:

The History Store
P.O. Box 160
Llano, Texas 78643

If you have a specific identification question, please see our Identification Request Page.

If you are wanting to buy Antique Weapons or Curios & Relics, please visit our Online Store and view our items.
You can also buy research materials from one of our affiliates at our Books for Sale pages.

Discovering edged weapons (Discovering)

A Collectors Guide to Swords, Daggers, and Cutlasses

Swords and Hilt Weapons

Swords and Other Edged Weapons

I am occasionally bombarded with questions concerning the so-called "Star of David" mark on the ricasso of some swords.
According to one source, "...all evidence suggests that the early use of the hexagram was limited to 'practical Kabbalah,' that is, Jewish magic, probably dating back to the 6th Century C.E." [Current Era, is a recent scientific term, previously known as A.D. - Anno Domini or Year of our Lord; the term B.C. - Before Christ was concurrently transformed by science to B.C.E. - Before Current Era].
Legends connect this symbol with the "Seal of Solomon," the magical signet ring used by King Solomon to control demons and spirits. Although the original ring was inscribed with the Tetragrammaton, the sacred Four-Letter Name of God, medieval amulets imitating this ring substituted the hexagram or pentagram..."
My own research has led me to only one instance of this symbol being mentioned in the Bible, in which it was referred to as "...the Egyptian Seal of Solomon."

Nonetheless - when asked - my opinion and reply has always been, "this is not the 'Star of David' in the religious sense, but simply the 'Star of Damascus' (this location being Damascus, Syria), an ancient blade-making center of high quality blades. The 'Star of Damascus' is applied to sword blades in the nostalgic sense."
The Six-Pointed Star has also occasionally been considered one of the many Masonic symbols and often-times a symbol of war.

I found a website dedicated to the research of this mark. I do not necessarily subscribe to the content - and do not endorse it - but if you wade through the religious rhetoric, it is quite informative. You can access it through this link: The Six Pointed Star. Once again, although I do not endorse the commentary, I have been asked so many questions about this "Star of David," I thought I would point you in a direction and let you draw your own conclusions on this matter.

No Help Needed At This Time; Thank You!

This Page Accessed Times

©1998-2007 - C. Alan Russell - All rights reserved.