Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

267 Alexander S. Matveev. A Case of Survival of an Early Medieval Straight Sword... the Turkish tribal warriors of Asia Minor and al-Djazira (not Seljuk Sultans’ mamluks). 1 The real changes in swordsmanship in the Middle East did not occur until the 13th C., which witnessed the start of gradual transition of defensive arms from relatively light lamellar cuirass and occasional use of horse-armour towards fully armoured horses and heavier protected warriors with vambrace, gauntlets and tassets of the Timurid period. A lamellar horse-armour, though rather common among the picked Mongols troops of the Great Khans in Mongolia proper (see the description of Plano Carpini, 1246 AD), 2 did not appear in the Persian art until 1330s — on the miniatures of Inju school in Shiraz (e. g., 1333AD Shahnamah MS. from the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg, or similar MSS. from Istanbul). Some Mamluk metalwork of the late 13th—early 14th C. also depicts horses protected by soft armour; there was also mentioning of the early 14th C. royal Mamluks having their horses armoured in steel caparisons and cheek 1 See the analysis of the earliest examples (late 12th–13th C.) of curved blades in the Middle East in: David Nicolle. An Introduction to Arms and Warfare in Classical Islam // Islamic Arms and Armour. Ed. Elgood R. P. 179–180; fig. 38–41, 43. 2 On the 13th C. Mongol and Middle Eastern warfare see: Matveev A. Main aspects of the “Classic”Mongol warfare (late 12th–13thCC.) //Military Archaeology: Weaponry andWarfare in the Historical and Social Perspective. Materials of the International Conference, 2–5 September 1998. St Peters- burg, 1998. P. 314–319; Matveev A. Works of art as a source for the history of warfare: on the example of Persian miniatures (a database project) // Manu- scripta Orientalia . 1998. Vol. 4. No. 3. P. 39–61; Matveev A. A 13th Century Mongol Armour Suite from Tuva // Ancient Cultures of Central Asia and St Petersburg. (Proceedings of the International Conference Dedicated to the 70th Anniversary of Alexander D. Grach). St Petersburg, 1998. P. 232–236. (In Russian); Matveev A. The Quality vs Quantity: On the Basic Features of theMongol Warfare // Proceedings of the International Conference “Central Asia from the Ahaemenids to Timurids. On theOccasion of the the 100thAnni- versary of A.M. Belenitskiy”. St Petersburg, 2005. P. 315–319. (In Russian); Matveev A. The Mongol Warfare in the 13th— early 14th CC.: On the Causes of theMongol military success // Proceedings of the International Conference “Warfare of Russia and its Neighbours”, St Petersburg, 29–31 March 2005. Moscow: Ministry of Defence Publishing House, 2006.