Swords and "urbanization"

ariel · 10th October 2008, 07:32 AM

Had nothing better to do, so was leafing through the "Arms and Armor from Iran".
One chapter discusses the origin of sabers, ie curved swords. It asserts that:
1. Sabers came to the Islamic world sometimes after the 10th century (14th?) from the nomads of Central Asia
2. They were unlikely to be of "nomadic" origin, but rather hailed from China, because bladesmithing requires high degree of urbanization.
Questions:
1. The first contact of the Islamic (Arab) armies with the "nomads" occured during the Arab attempts to invade Khazaria sometimes in the 8th century and there are many examples of Khazar curved swords from that era ( see" The Arts of the Muslim Knight" by Mohamed, as well as "Weapons of the Ancient Orient" by Gorelik, "Khazars" by Pletneva etc). Khazars had very well developed urban culture by that time.
2. Was urbanization truly required? We can just look at Dyak swords or Moro swords. Both cultures produced magnificient blades without any urbanization.
Any insights?

10th October 2008, 07:32 AM	#1
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Swords and "urbanization" Had nothing better to do, so was leafing through the "Arms and Armor from Iran". One chapter discusses the origin of sabers, ie curved swords. It asserts that: 1. Sabers came to the Islamic world sometimes after the 10th century (14th?) from the nomads of Central Asia 2. They were unlikely to be of "nomadic" origin, but rather hailed from China, because bladesmithing requires high degree of urbanization. Questions: 1. The first contact of the Islamic (Arab) armies with the "nomads" occured during the Arab attempts to invade Khazaria sometimes in the 8th century and there are many examples of Khazar curved swords from that era ( see" The Arts of the Muslim Knight" by Mohamed, as well as "Weapons of the Ancient Orient" by Gorelik, "Khazars" by Pletneva etc). Khazars had very well developed urban culture by that time. 2. Was urbanization truly required? We can just look at Dyak swords or Moro swords. Both cultures produced magnificient blades without any urbanization. Any insights?