thank you all for your interesting contributions . However wild boar,or any kind pig is taboo in Islam. They are accepted as the dirtiest animal,forbidden to eat its meat,to use any part of its body etc.. A Moslem soldier would hope good luck and victory from a boar tusk talisman?? Unbelievable. So "boar tusked amulet carrying Turkish sipahis" theory is inconvincing for me. Perhaps not only the cross, but the whole item itself might be accepted as a mounted Christian soldier amulets or accessory tradition once in Ottoman army. The crescent form of the item could tell something like a Turkish origin, but Jim says there is a moon-Virgin Mary association in Christian symbolism as well . The nielloed silver also can point some possible Caucassian Christian origins,right?
|