Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

258 III. Судан и его соседи of the 12–13th C. A more substantive prove could be the shape of hilt: the blade could be brought from very distant lands but mounted locally (which in fact, was the case with kaskara ). 1 The hilts of the Sudanese swords are quite standard, of virtually one type—unlike the blades which differ. However, if the quillons resemble those of medieval European swords indeed (cf. 15th C. Europen blades kept in Alexandria arsenal, Fig. 18), the guard in general is quite different, as the European swords— to the best of my knowledge—have no peculiar languet extending down the blade. Moreover, the disc-like kaskara pommel that may seem to resemble the disc-shaped pommels of the ‘Crusader’ swords (as on Fig. 18), in reality differs completely from them, both in form (Western knights’ sword discs are parallel to the hilt while the kaskara’s pommel is perpendicular to it) and, more importantly, in function: Western swords’ heavy iron pommels counterbalanced the heavy blade, while kaskara’s pommels are mainly made of leather; therefore, their weight is insignificant (even if the disc is covered with silver, the sheet is too thin to make any difference). Thus, when we start examining the “similarities” between the Sudanese and West European medieval swords, we immediately find that the resemblance is superficial, and in reality they have very little in common. 1 After: Alexander D. European Swords in the Collections of Istanbul. Pt. I: Swords from the Arsenal of Alexandria // Waffen- und Kostümkunde. 27(2). 1985. Fig. 18. Swords from Alexandria Arsenal, believed to have been connected to the Peter I of Cyprus Crusade in 1365 1