Ivan the Terrible
Alexei Tanovitski, as Ivan the Terrible, speaks with media after a dress rehearsal of the Bolshoi theatre's new staging of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's open-air opera "The Maid of Pskov" in Pskov?s Kremlin, some 650 km (404 miles) northwest of Moscow, late July 21, 2010. The opera, directed by Yuri Laptev, a Mariinsky Theatre soloist and Russian Presidential Adviser on cultural issues, involves more than 500 people including actors, soloists, the choir and members of historical clubs. Reuters

A 12th century sword was found buried under a tree in the region of Novosibirsk in Siberia. In 1975, the weapon was unearthed and it is the only one of its kind found in Siberia.

According to the Siberian Times, a new theory has sprung up that the 12th century sword could have been Tsar Ivan the Terrible's sword. It is rumoured that the sword came from the royal armoury as a gift. Much of the information remains uncertain, but this theory has the potential of making the item one of the most interesting archaeological finds in the history of Siberia.

Siberian experts have said that the engraved weapon was made in central Europe and they added that it was mostly made in the Rhine basin in Germany and then was taken to the island of Gotland where the sword was decorated with an ornate silver handle and Norse ruse pattern. The European experts are yet to give their comments which will help throw more light on the origins of the 12th century sword.

Vyacheslav Molodin is an archaeologist who led the excavation in Vengerovo wherethe sword was found. He said that there was a "rune" inscription on either sides of the blade which was abbreviated. He continued that the style of calligraphy on the 12th century sword proved that the people who made it had knowledge of advanced epigraphic writing techniques.

The wordings were decoded by Russian experts from the Hermitage Museum. They said that the main inscription read as "NMNStEtDSE" which is the abbreviation of "Nomine Matris Nostri Salvatoris Eterni Domini Salvatoris Eterni" meaning "In the name of the mother of our saviour eternal." On the same side of the blade, there was another engraving which the experts decoded as "Christus Ihesus Christus" which means Christ Jesus Christ.

On the other side of the blade, the inscription was harder to read. The experts said that the first ford was seen clearly which was NOMENE. They reconstructed the words as "Nomine Omnipotentis Mater Eterni Nomine" which has the meaning "In the name of the Almighty. The Mother of God. In the name of Eternal."