Początki użytkowania szabli na terenie wczesnośredniowiecznej Armenii

Abstrakt

For a long time, the military history of the Medieval Armenia was not an object of historical research, which in turn had a negative impact on the studies of the region’s social and political history. It is indisputable that in Armenia, as in most countries during the Middle Ages, the sword was a popular - albeit expensive - weapon. But when did sabres appear in Armenia, and were they popular? Images or archaeological fi nds of sabres from the territory of Armenia date only from the 12th/13th centuries, while in the Byzantine Empire and Abbasid Caliphate the sabre had been known already in the 9th-11th centuries, used mainly by nomads serving as mercenaries in both armies. Unfortunately, written sources are not really helpful, as Armenian chroniclers used diff erent terms (- sur, tur, suser - sur, tur, suser) in order to describe the word “sword” or something of the kind, diff erences between which are not completely understood. Moreover, there exists a methodological problem of distinguishing a backsword/pallash (single-edged sword) from a sabre. In order to make this research a more relevant, a comparative analysis with Byzantine, Georgians, Muslim and Nomads materials regarding the appearance, distribution and use of the sabre was employed. The conclusion states that in South Caucasus, the sabre appeared a bit later than in the Byzantine Empire and Abbasid Caliphate, having arrived thanks to North Caucasus, Byzantine, Muslim or Seljuk infl uences in the 10th-11th centuries, given that nomad mercenaries were not present in Bagratid Armenia.