Swords.. A symbol of strength and pride
The ancients have known the sword since time immemorial as a symbol of strength and pride, and it is considered one of the most famous weapons that has been used over long eras. It is known in most parts of the world as a tool of war that knights benefit from during their raids, or moments of defending themselves.
Sword making was initially made from primitive materials such as stone, wood and bone. It developed with the development of civilizations and the difference in mining methods. Humans used harder, stronger and more beautiful-looking materials such as copper, bronze, iron, steel, gold and silver. There are several types of swords, including: Indian, Turkish, Pakistani, Saudi, and the best type is the Indian sword.
Throughout history, there have been important events about the sword, duels, and honor-return duels. The sword has not lost its history in our current era, as sports fencing is important. The game of foil and fencing is one of the activities of the Olympic Games, and the sword also has a place in the arts and weddings. There is the famous shield and sword dance, and the magical games with the sword when the magician swallows the sword, and there are the rituals of the dervishes with the sword and inserting it into the stomach In official celebrations and receptions of kings and presidents, the sword must appear raised in the hand of the Chief of Protocol.
In ancient times, bronze was the material for making swords, until the Iron Age ended it, as the peoples who were able to melt iron and make their swords from it were able to overcome the peoples of the Bronze Age with the power of iron, while the manufacture of the Egyptian Khubish sword can be traced back to the Kingdom of Sumer in the third millennium BC, where its standard length is From 50-60 cm; It was made of bronze and then iron in later stages It continued to be used until 1300 BC, when two swords were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.
The sword is considered one of the most famous tools of war among the Arabs in pre-Islamic and Islamic times, as it was used in attack and defense, and a good sword is made of pure iron and steel, and in Arabic the word steel is any distinctive type of iron, while the iron of the sword is called “the blade”, while its edge is called “a dome”. The sword was decorated with gold and silver, which confirms that his craft was perfected in the Arabian Peninsula.
According to historians, the swords of Yemen are the most famous in the Arabian Peninsula, and Mecca was also famous for making swords. This is confirmed by the fact that Khabbab ibn al-Arth worked in the craft of sword making during the pre-Islamic era, and swords were also made in Najd and by the Arab tribes spread throughout it.
Among the most famous types of swords among the Arabs are “Al-Arihiyah”, the most comfortable place in the Levant, and the Basra swords, which are sold in the Basra market. Some sources also indicate the fame of the lands of the Romans and Persians for the manufacture of swords. The Sarij swords are considered to be attributed to Sarij, a man from Banu Asad, and the Yemeni Qala’i swords, in reference to the castle, which is a place in Yemen in Wadi Dhahriyyah, the iron mine.
The honorable sword is attributed to Mushrif, a village in Yemen where swords were made. It is said Saif Mushrifi, and in the hadith of Satih. The most famous sword in the pre-Islamic era, which continued to be famous in Islam, was the sword of Amr ibn Ma’dikarb, known as Al-Samsama, and a sword known as (Dhul-Faqar), whose name is associated with Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, who obtained it in the Battle of Badr and took it from Al-Aas ibn Umayya. It was said that it was one of seven swords that Bilqis, Queen of Sheba, gave to Sulayman, and then it reached Al-Aas. It was also said that the Messenger – may God bless him and grant him peace – had a sword called “failed”, meaning he continued with the tax and was absent from it, and Khalid bin Al-Walid had a sword that he called “failed”.
The Levant was also famous for the manufacture of weapons in general, and swords in particular. This is an ancient craft that the Levant has preserved despite the ravages of time. Ibn Khaldun stated that Damascus flourished in the sword industry, which dates back to before the third century AD. This industry continued thereafter due to the importance of swords and their military role. Al-Kindi mentioned many types of swords. There are twenty-five types of them, and their names follow the type of steel used in them, or the place where the swords were made: such as German, Indian, Damascene, Egyptian, Kufic, and others. Poetry, Quranic verses, and Islamic phrases were engraved on the sword with gold water.
Some cities in the Levant were known for sword making, including: the swords of Moab and Elah. Each type of sword had a special shape or mark that distinguished it and could distinguish it from others. The Arabian sword differed in size according to the regions in which the Arabs spread, and it did not have uniform characteristics. However, it could be distinguished from the Sassanid, Byzantine, Indian, and Roman swords. The swords of Damascus are considered among the most beautiful and best that were made in the Levant Its brilliance reached a great level of mastery of craftsmanship, such that a person could use the Damascene sword as a mirror to repair scars.
The advantages of the Damascene sword became apparent during the Crusades, and Crusader warriors began searching for the secret of this craft and its characteristics, and the basic material from which these Damascene swords were made was Damascene core steel, and historians spoke about it and explained the difference between it and Indian steel, and this is what confirms the authenticity of this industry in Damascus.
Swords.. Different names, meanings and types
The names of the swords varied between Al-Marhaf, Al-Azeeb, Al-Sarem, Al-Bater, Al-Qassal, Al-Muqassal, Al-Mufaddal, Al-Mahraz, Al-Ghadib, and Al-Hadam, in expressions of its brilliance, and among its well-known names are Al-Hussam, Al-Muhannad, and others.
A thin sword is evidence that it is made of an excellent solid metal and indicates progress in the metal industry. However, if it is wide, it is a plate, if it is gentle, it is a rod, and if it is polished, it is wood. It is also the one that began to be printed and was not perfect in its work. If the sword has reassuring grooves on its text, then it is impoverished and from it it is called Zulfikar. The qata’ is a qasl, a khallab, a mukhaddam, a jaraz, a dhab, a hussam, a qadib and a dhammah. If it passes through the bones, then it is firm. If it affects the joints, then it is closed. If it is continuing with the tax, then it is a failure. However, if it is strict and does not bend, then it is a samsam. If there is a trace in its text, then it is a hadith.
It is said about a sword that has been around for a long time and its edge has been broken, “Qaddam.” If its blade is iron, male, and its text is feminine, then it is masculine, and the Arabs claim that this is the work of the jinn, and if it is effective and past, then it is Islit, while if it has a sparkle, then it is a jug, and what is printed in India is Muhannad, Hindi, and Hindwani, and if it is in the middle of the whip, it is Mughal, and the short one includes “Mishmal”, and the wreath that does not pass is called Kaham Waddan While the one with which the tree is cut is a helper.
Sword making throughout the ages
The sword became a highly advanced weapon in the Middle Ages after the skills used in its manufacture improved, and the use of the Spatha sword, which was decorated with Germanic works of art, became widespread, while the Viking Age witnessed more production and organization of swords, but it still adhered to the basic design of the Spatha sword.
During the Crusades from the 12th to the 13th centuries, swords were used extensively with slight variations in designs. As for the period of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance
From 1300 to about 1500, he continued to use the sword with improved armor and innovative designs, while the main shift was a lengthened grip, allowing use with both hands, and a longer blade.
Japanese katana swords reached the peak of their development in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when there was a need to use the sword in the nearest circles, but the decline in its use came with the advent of military technology in warfare.
Swords were no longer used in warfare during the modern era, but they were used in self-defense and as a basic element in fashion in European countries and the New World. Most wealthy men and officers used them to complement their uniforms, and they became a popular symbol in the eighteenth century. The sword then lost its luster in the nineteenth century, in parallel with the reliable development of pistols.
The sword consists of two main parts: the sword’s shaft and blade, especially for antique swords, in addition to the sword’s sheath or pouch. The sword shaft consists of the hilt, the cap, which is the wide iron that is worn on top of the shaft and is called the qalla if it is round or spherical, and the qatir, which are the heads of the nails in the sword grip, while the blade is the iron of the sword without the shaft. In the blade there is the silan, which is its foot, which enters the shaft, and in the blade, of course, there is the striker, which is the position in which it is struck.
Good swords are characterized by containing what is known as the trace, which is the frand or essence. There are chamfers or channels dug into the body of the sword, to make the sword softer and more supple. A sword of this type is known as a traditional sword, meaning one that has a trace, essence, or quality.
3 famous names for the sword among Arabs
There are many names for the sword among the Arabs, but the most famous of them all are: Muhannad, Hossam, Zulfikar, Bater, and Hazem, and there are also names such as: Arshad, Bahr, Atheer, Batak, Buraq, Sattam, Al-Qati’, Hudhaim, Daysaq, Asar, Sarem, Qadib, Samsam, Attaf, Qadi, Hindwani, Mishari, Faisal, Farouk, Batar, Kasser, Madi, and Samsam.
Making a sword required a lot of sophisticated skill, and it took a lot of knowledge to figure out how to use it efficiently. It has a very long history and has evolved and transformed over the ages into many forms. The heavy sword of medieval chivalry had a large handle. The advantage of a curved blade for cutting was appreciated early in Asia, where it was used by Indians, Persians, and others for a long time before being introduced to Europe by the Turks, at the other end of Asia The Japanese developed a long-blade version. The introduction of frequent firearms virtually ended the sword’s value as a military weapon, although isolated cases of its use in 20th-century warfare persisted. As its military usefulness declined, the sword acquired a new role in fencing, especially in Europe.
The sword is often attributed to the civilizations of the ancient world and the peoples who inherited the weapon. The sword was one of the main weapons in Egypt, Africa, Asia, Greece, Rome and Europe. It can be classified according to geographical spread (Eastern, Asian, European and African). Eastern types of swords evolved into a very distinct form compared to European swords, and the metal sword failed to develop in the American and Australian continents. In South and Central America, there was a wooden sword (makana) used by indigenous cultures, while some swords are strange, such as the typical European sword, which has a straight and pointed blade, while the curved sword was developed in the Middle East and Asia.
Swords can also be divided into a one-handed group and a double-handed group, as a double-handed sword is any sword that requires the use of both hands, and this group includes swords such as: European, Scottish, and Japanese, as the one-handed sword was short with a handle that would accommodate Fist with only one hand, while a straight double-edged sword can be divided into two subcategories: a leaf-shaped blade and a straight-shaped blade.
Swords have varied across successive civilizations. A paper-bladed sword has a blade that usually widens in the middle of the blade, and a blade with straight edges that ends in a rounded dot or point. Paper-shaped swords have been found in Spain, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Britain, and Scandinavia. The dominance of this blade shape during the Bronze Age may have been due to the fact that this type of blade was easier to achieve with bronze. At a time when early Roman swords were leaf-shaped.
The finest straight swords were found in Scandinavia, which varied in terms of hilt and ring but were later incorporated into the famous Viking swords. Sword styles and types evolved, with the straight sword pattern beginning to change in the 9th century, the main change being the narrower blade compared to the length of the sword. The transitional sword continued to evolve into the knight’s sword or weapon sword, which has a classic cruciform feature.
Another development was the standard sword carried in battle. It was lightweight and designed for cutting rather than thrusting. Its length varied between 30 and 32 inches. Over time, knights began to wear heavy armor. This was one of the reasons for the sword’s continued development, as larger and longer swords were needed to deliver blunt force shock through armor or penetrate armor. This led to the development of the long sword In the 13th and 17th centuries, the straight sword became longer, reaching between 3 feet in length, and one of the most famous two-handed swords was the Claymore sword or “Great Sword”, which was used in the highlands during the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Historians say that the first person to fight with the sword was the Prophet Abraham – peace and blessings be upon him – but this is a weak account because the time in which the Prophet Abraham – peace be upon him – lived was later than the time when bronze was discovered and used in making swords and other tools.
Adoption of iron in the sword industry
Historical evidence has proven that the first iron tools formed by humans were of meteorite origin, due to the properties of iron and the presence of a high percentage of nickel in it. Humans mastered the processes of reduction by charcoal fire and produced simple iron objects in Mesopotamia, Iraq, and Mary, Syria, as early as 2500 BC.
The Sumerians called natural iron the metal of the sky, while the ancient Egyptians called it black copper from the sky. Its manufacture began with the emergence of the Hittite Kingdom in the third millennium BC, and they controlled its market. It originated in the region of Armenia, which is rich in its raw materials.
Wrought iron has been made since 1900 BC, while swords were not initially made of pure iron, but rather of both iron and bronze since 1650 BC. The oldest iron tool found and dated to ancient Egypt is a dagger made in ancient Egypt before 1350 BC. War tools such as daggers and swords were then manufactured after this date, and their manufacture and shapes developed and spread widely in most countries.
The most famous swords among the Arabs
Some swords became famous among the Arabs, as they are considered the most honorable and generous swords of the Noble Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – as he had more than one sword, and his sword with which he entered Mecca as a conqueror was decorated with gold and silver.
Among the swords owned by the Noble Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – is a sword called Qala’i, another called Yami al-Battar, and a third called al-Hattaf. The Messenger took it from Banu Qaynuqa’. He also had a sword called al-Makhdum and another called al-Rasub. He also had a sword called Ma’thur al-Fajjar, and another called al-Ma’war, as well as al-Adhab, about which the poet said:
Our gifts have nine swords. Zulfikar’s servant failed
Qadb Hatf and Al-Battar.. Azb, Qala’i and the Fajjar proverb
There is also the Samsamah sword, which is the sword of Amr ibn Ma’dikarib al-Zubaidi, and it is one of the distinctive types of jeweled swords. It was one of the most famous Arab swords and was given to the Prophet’s agent in Yemen, Khalid ibn al-Aas, after his conversion to Islam.
As for “Dhu al-Wishah”, it is the sword of Caliph Omar bin al-Khattab – may God be pleased with him – and al-Aluq Dhu al-Qart is the sword of Khalid bin al-Walid, and al-Mulla is the sword of Saad bin Abi Waqqas, and Dhu al-Fiqar is the sword of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, and it is one of the most famous Islamic swords ever, as the Muslims captured it in the Great Battle of Badr from al-Aas bin Munabbih al-Sahmi This sword was awarded to the Messenger – may God bless him and grant him peace – and he presented it to Imam Ali. It is of pure essence and has eighteen paragraphs.
This sword and its bearer were evident in subsequent Islamic wars and invasions, especially in the Battle of Uhud, Al-Ahzab, and Hunain, where Hassan bin Thabit says:
Gabriel called out in battle.. The impact is not sickle-like
And Muslims in their families.. About the Messenger Prophet
There is no sword except Zulfikar. There is no boy except Ali
In addition to military swords, there are swords used in fencing, called sports swords, which have a thin, triangular blade of solid steel with a flat tip and will be used in fencing matches and will never be killed, and the electric sword, whose handle is connected to an electrical device by a strip through which electric current flows to illuminate if the sword touches the opponent, and thus this touch is counted in favor of the sword owner.
As for the ceremonial sword, it has a slightly curved blade and is usually used on official and popular occasions and in family celebrations, and is still widespread in the Gulf, the Levant and Iraq, and is considered part of the core of traditional Arab heritage. While the execution sword is used to bring down punishment on sinners. The most famous swordsman was Masroor, the swordsman of One Thousand and One Nights, who worked in Shahryar’s court, and this sword was used in different countries of the world, and among the most famous people executed by the sword were the pre-Islamic poet Tarfa bin Al-Abd, one of the authors of the Mu’allaqat, in the year 560 AD, and Queen Anne in the Tower of London, England, in the year 1536 AD. Nobles and officers (samurai) in Japan used the sword to commit suicide.
Types of essence used in decorating swords
Three main types of jewels will be used to decorate swords, with Damascene, Persian, and Indian jewels being used.
The Damascene essence is characterized by some characteristics, the most important of which are the wonderful ripples that resemble tight geometric spots, its colors that tend to be white, its refusal to rust, and its composition of smooth grains with closely porous gray color with a tendency to whiteness. The Europeans called all of these jewels the Damascus Jewel, thinking that they were all made in Damascus.
There are several types of Persian essence in distinctive shapes and colors, including Kirk Neerdaban essence, which is the forty-degree essence, and Qurat Khorasan essence, which appears on the blade in the form of thin gray or black lines that look like a fishing net lying on the surface of the water, and Qurat Taban essence, which is characterized by a brown color and irregular waves.
While the essence is similar to the Damascene and Persian Indian, the shape of its wire threads in the knots and boxes is thinner and thinner. The Indian essence sword is harder and is one of the types in which the cooler does not work except after effort. The Arabs knew jeweled swords and brought them from the places where they were made. At a time when Islamic swords were divided into two parts: straight and curved, the former was used for a period of time in the pre-Islamic era and after Islam. There are styles known for swords, including: the Yetagan, which is a single-edged, double-curved sword. The blade line corresponds to the movement of the wrist during stabbing. It does not have a guard, and is distinguished by its forward weight when stabbing, which helps the fighter make a quick, sharp cut.
There is the qalij style, which turns before the tip into a double-edged blade at a clear angle, and its tip gradually increases in size, ensuring an excellent cutting angle due to its shortening of the length of the blade to facilitate its use, and it is noted that it combines the Mongol and Turkish swords. Likewise, the Shamshir model is a narrow-bladed, thick, single-edged weapon, and its grip is characterized by the simplicity and lightness of its composition, and the protective one is in the form of a cross, although its handle from the top of the cap faces to the side, so it is generally the shape of a pistol. It is used for both war, hunting and fishing purposes. The Talur style is similar to the Persian Shamshir, and the Khonda was used by the Muslim Mongols in northern India. At a time when Arab museums are full of many shapes of these swords.