Ancient Weapons of Oman. Volume 2: Firearms
ISBN: 9781803270333
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Archaeopress
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Engineering: General; Engineering;

This book presents a detailed overview of the firearms used in Oman over the last four centuries. Portable firearms were brought into the Arabian Gulf by the Portuguese, but there is no trace of these early weapons the region. In Oman, the typical matchlock guns with decorated Indian barrels were highly esteemed and they were passed from generation to generation as a family heritage. Matchlock guns were replaced only by breech-loading Martini Henry rifles at the end of the 19th century, when Muscat became the major firearms' entrepot in the Arabian Gulf with hundreds of thousands of breech loading rifles re-exported throughout the whole region up to Afghanistan and Persia. The Martini Henry rifle and its variants were by far the most common weapon and Belgian made Martini Henry were specifically engraved for the Muscat market. Cannon entered the country in great number mostly as ordnances on Royal Navy ships and they are now kept in forts, towers and fortified buildings across the entire Oman. The weapons described in this book are mostly from the National Museum and Bait al Zubair Museum in Muscat.

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.

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