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Originally Posted by ariel
Given that pre-and early Islamic Arab and Sassanian swords were straight and double-edged, it is highly likely that similar Mamluk as well as Ethiopian/Sudanese swords got their origin from them , rather than from European crusaders. Himyarite kingdom in Yemen was tightly connected with Aksum ( both as trading partners and as enemies) and was destroyed by the Ethiopian Aksum in 525 C.E., well before Muhammad. Both were in tight contact with the Byzantium whose swords might have been adopted or, at least, added some influence.
Still, do the stories of trophy crusaders swords sold to Sudan by the victorious Muslims contain a grain of truth? Perhaps.
" That was in another country, and besides, the wench is dead".....
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Thankfully I think the crusader connection is by and large recognized as a red herring these days. Although there is a grain of truth to it through trade blades even if these are hardly of crusade vintage.
Certainly straight blades swords were known from byzantine rule of the north African coast and Egypt and with spatha and steppes heritage. But the Kaskara with its rather specific cross guard form I think has a fairly direct link to Mamluk Egypt with its particular form including langets extending over the cross guard.