Comparison to two swords
First is the shamshir attributed to Saif bin Sultan in the National Museum of Oman, dated as 1675 by the museum. The Zanzibar shamshir has almost exactly the same style and measurements as this sword. The differences are:
* Width of the blade:
Oman shamshir: 3.5 cm; Zanzibar shamshir: about 3 cm.
* Cross guard:
The Oman shamshir has a floral Omani design but the Zanzibar sword has a Quranic inscription.
* Colour:
The steel on the blade of the Zanzibar shamshir seems darker, but that might be due to weathering.
Second is Al-Qadib, a sword attributed to the Prophet Muhammed. I just thought it's interesting because the length and width of the blade are almost exactly the same as the Zanzibar shamshir. The width of al-Qadib is 2.8 cm which was the initial measurement I had for the Zanzibar blade. I later thought this seemed too narrow and asked the owner to re-measure it and she said 3 cm. In any case, Al-Qadib is known as a defence and companionship sword, not to be used in battle. This made me wonder if the Zanzibar shamshir was a defence and ceremonial sword. (It's still an effective weapon though, it's quite heavy, solid and sharp).
|