Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

257 Alexander S. Matveev. A Case of Survival of an Early Medieval Straight Sword... portrayed by Sir Walter Scott in his “The Talisman” novel — is nothing but fiction (as well as the idea that Arabs lacked armour). Though the Muslims already new a curved blade by the time of the First Crusade, their major shock weapon at that time was the straight sword, not very different from the European one. A traditional Arabic sword was always straight, and the extant exemplars clearly show it: see, e. g., the earliest Arab blades preserved in Topkapi Saray Museum 1 (Fig. 17). All those swords of 7(?)–13th CC are straight, some of them are very broad and heavy (the hilts, though were mounted much later and belong to the epoch of the sabre domination). Thus, there was no need for the Crusaders to bring coal to Newcastle in order to invent its use. Secondly, if we assume that this particular type of sword appeared under the influence of the Crusaders, and then came through Egypt to Sudan, we have to find some evidence to this hypothesis. In fact, a comparison proves rather the opposite, as Sudanese blades are lighter, more flexible and thinner than the European knightly swords 1 A.R. Zaky. Medieval Arab Arms // Elgood R. Op. cit. P. 202–211. Fig. 17. Arabic swords attributed to the 7(?)–13th C. in Topkapi Saray Museum (after Zaki A.R. Medieval Arab Arms. Figs. 203-6)