Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

275 Alexander S. Matveev. A Case of Survival of an Early Medieval Straight Sword... particularly useful in naval warfare, was widespread alongside the coastal area from Morocco to Oman. In Oman one can distinguish two types of straight double-edged swords. First, kattara , 1 the most typical of them, has a thin and flexible blade with fullers, and a characteristic handle without any guard, tapering to a small cylinder-like pommel (Fig. 20, 1). The second type, the so-called Omani , though also often referred to as kattara , is quite different. These are broad and solid, inflexible swords, with blades mostly of European origin, 2 and with typical curving downwards quillons (Fig. 20, 2), which closely resemble the shape of the guards depicted, e. g., on the low-relief of Goliath from the 10th C. Armenian church on Aght’amar island in lake Van (Fig. 21), and at a finding in an early 11th C. Serçe Leman shipwreck, in Asia Minor. 3 They are rarer than standard kattara , and it is possible to attribute the emerging of 1 Elgood R. Op. cit. Pl. 2.14, 2.16. 2 Elgood R. Op. cit. Pl. 2.13; 2.15 (the latter with a Persian blade). 3 Bass G. F., et al. Serçe Limani: An Eleventh-Century Shipwreck. Vol. 1. The Ship and Its Anchorage, Crew, and Passengers. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004. Fig. 20. Kattara, Oman: 1 — ‘slim’ type; 2 — ‘Omani’ type 1 2