«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

m 114 n David Nicolle The best known examples of leather lamellar armour are probably those from Chinese Turkestan, including some of Tibetan origin (figure 35), plus the mass of material excavated from 3 rd century AD Dura Europos in Syria which has only recently been properly studied (figures 36–39) 1 . Less well-known are two crocodile-skin helmets from Nubia which are in Berlin but have not, as far as I am aware, been carbon-dated (figure 40–45). Published references to these helmets tend to assume that they were made around the period of the Roman Empire, though probably not being of Romano-Egyptian origin. On the other hand the neck-guard with a lamellar or scale outer layer which was attached to one of these helmets might indicate a medieval Nubian or even an early Islamic Egyptian origin. Since no proper study has yet been made of the recently discovered leather armours from the Middle East, I will confine myself to observations made somewhat hurriedly during the two brief occasions when I was able to look at the hoard which is now in Qatar, and my more focussed but currently suspend- ed studies of the material from the Citadel of Damascus which is now in the National Museum's Conservation Department 2 . The first collection includes a small amount of leather lamellar armour laced with leather thongs (fig- ures 1–3), plus some iron lamellar armour. The leather lamellae have a great deal in common with comparable leather lamellar armour from 3rd century AD Syria (figures 36–38) as well as from early medieval Chinese Turkestan (figure 35). Most of the armour in this first hoard nevertheless consists of curved hori- zontal hoops designed to go around the body, plus some smaller hoops which might be shoulder or thigh pieces (figures 4–11). Most consist of around six layers of thin leather glued and stitched together. Most also have an appar- ently decorative outer layer of smaller pieces of leather, similarly glued and stitched, giving an impression of fish scales or bird’s feathers. These overlap horizontally, each overlap being about two millimetres wide. Each armour in the hoard now in Qatar, of which there are the incomplete elements of four or five and the apparently complete elements of one, has a painted outer surface. This painting provided an overall decorative scheme for the entire armour. In other words it ignored the horizontal hoops and dealt with the wearer’s body as a whole. One raised collar has an unclear Arabic inscription, while the overall coloured patterns seem to have much in common with Islamic architectural 1 James S. Excavations at Dura-Europos 1928–1937. Final Report VII. The Arms and Armour and other Military Equipment. London, 2004. P. 122–125. 2 Nicolle D. Trésors oubliés: Dépôts d'armes et d'armures médiévales en Syrie, Histoires et Images Médiévales: Thématiques , 14 (August-October 2008). P. 26–33; Nicolle D. Another Hoard of Medieval Military Equipment from the Citadel of Damascus, Bulletin of the Coun- cil for British Research in the Levant , 7. 2012. P. 54–56.