Medieval Islamic Swords And Swordmaking
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Medieval Islamic Swords and Swordmaking
Author: Robert G. Hoyland
language: en
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Release Date: 2012
One of the problems pervading the study of medieval Islamic technology is the lack of surviving technical treatises. Tradition tended to be handed down by example and by word of mouth, and apprenticeships could last for decades. Fortunately, however, occasional treatises do exist. The treatise "On swords and their kinds" was written by the 9th century Muslim philosopher Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi. This work was commissioned by a powerful patron of scholarship, the Abbasid caliph Mu'tasim, and the content of the treatise presumably reflects the ruler's general interest in his army and its equipment, and his specific interest in the technical aspects of sword production. In this work, Kindi discusses the difference between iron and steel, distinguishes different qualities of sword blade, and different centres of swordsmithing. He refers to the Indian Ocean trade in steel ingots and to the distinctive character of European swords of the period. He includes technical terms used by the makers, and distinguishes swords by their physical features - form, measurements, weight, watered pattern, sculptured details, or inlaid ornaments. This publication includes the text and a translation of Kindi's treatise, and a detailed commentary on the work. The volume also includes a translation of Friedrich Schwarzlose's work on swords, which is based on the hundreds of references to swords in early Arabic poetry. Written in German, this extraordinary compendium of information was first published some 120 years ago; this volume makes it available again, and for the first time in English.
Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World
Author: Venetia Porter
language: en
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Release Date: 2012-06-29
The material and visual culture of the Islamic World casts vast arcs through space and time, and encompasses a huge range of artefacts and monuments from the minute to the grandiose, from ceramic pots to the great mosques. Here, Venetia Porter and Mariam Rosser-Owen assemble leading experts in the field to examine both the objects themselves and the ways in which they reflect their historical, cultural and economic contexts. With a focus on metalwork, this volume includes an important new study of Mosul metalwork and presents recent discoveries in the fields of Fatimid, Mamluk and Qajar metalwork. By examining architecture, ceramics, ivories and textiles, seventeenth-century Iranian painting and contemporary art, the book explores a wide range of artistic production and historical periods from the Umayyad caliphate to the modern Middle East. This rich and detailed volume makes a significant contribution to the fields of Art History, Architecture and Islamic Studies, bringing new objects to light, and shedding new light on old objects.
Global Trade in the Early Medieval World
Exploring the movement of peoples, perfumes, and spices across vast distances in this period of medieval history across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, this book examines the role of Arab merchants in trade between and among the Caliphal and Carolingian elites. The study of the trade in perfumes and spices highlights the relationship between the South Asian subcontinent and the Caliphate. It is shown that the societies involved in this intercontinental maritime trade intermingled through the demand for goods and products which allowed for the transmission of ideas and learning. Crucially, the Eurasian end of these trading routes were tapping into pre- existing networks of trade as there is evidence that there were links of trade between East Asia and the near and Middle East as early as the seventh century B.H./ first century A.D. Thus, the book challenges the Eurocentric worldview which fails to take into account that the Europeans in the late medieval period came into a pre- existing trading network. This book will be of interest to readers in economic history as well as the history of trade, globalisation, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Medieval world.