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| Ancient Weapons of Oman. Volume 1: Edged Weapons
ISBN: 9781803270319
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Archaeopress
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Military Science;
Omani men carried personal weapons until relatively recent years. Swords and daggers were part of daily life attire and are still worn in social events. Thanks to its political independence, Oman developed unique types of weaponry like the saif sword, which descends from the swords used in the early Islamic period, and the kattara sword that was influenced by the swordsmanship tradition of East Africa. A central role is played by the curved dagger that, common throughout the region, has a special declination in the Omani khanjar . Traditional Omani weaponry includes also the characteristic round terrs shields and the small jertz and qaddum axes, used in the Musandam Peninsula and in the Wahiba sands.
This book describes all these main types of Omani edged weapons, their origin, structure and accessories, with the support of a large amount of illustrations and constant reference to specimens from museums and private collections in Oman. The book includes also a long and detailed appendix about one of the most exciting discoveries by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, the so-called Desert Lord of Sinaw , buried almost two thousand years ago with a long iron sword and two iron daggers.
Vincenzo Clarizia is a collector of ancient weapons from all over the world. He started being interested in ancient weapons before he was twenty, studying, restoring and collecting edged weapons and firearms from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Since 1996, he approached the study of Japanese swords in both their technical and practical aspects. He is currently practicing Japanese sword martial arts Iaido, Battodo and Katori Shinto Ryu, and he restores and collects Japanese blades and armours. He was also consultant for the National Museum of Oman, for which he assessed, catalogued and described its large collections of edged weapons, firearms and cannons. |
