Oriental weapons from the Hermitage exposition

[ALEX]

Originally Posted by arsendaday

Did anyone pay attention to the sword with double blades? With the lion head pommel. This is the first time that I see one of these. This one is a Persian sword and most likely a display one, but it is said that Tamerlane (aka Timur Lang) had a double bladed sword like this one and that he was so strong and powerful that when he struck with his sword he cut the enemy into three pieces. I wish I could read the museum description for this sword. Anyway thanks for sharing and good luck.

Mercenary, thank you for sharing these pictures! Truly awesome!

Arsen, these split swords are rare, but there're quite a few. They are ceremonial swords, as you can see in THIS example. I handled another one, a Qajar split blade made of laddered wootz, with one half broken, and it is amazing how they forged two halves running almost parallel to each other.
Hopefully Richard Furrer will comment on such a feast.