The chief characteristic of the blades of the Middle East is the beautiful watered pattern of the Damascus steel, discussed on [page 20]. Unfortunately this pattern is too delicate to show well in reproduction, but it may readily be observed in the actual objects, exhibited in the gallery of Middle Eastern Art. Two knives are shown in [Fig. 35], illustrating delicate Damascene work in gold and similar ornament carried out not by inlay of another metal, but by chiselling in low relief.
Fig. 35. Persian dagger-knives of the seventeenth century, equally useful as tool and as weapon, and beautiful too!
[Fig. 36] shows a Persian sword hilt of solid gold, from the late thirteenth or fourteenth century. The ends of its guard are formed as the heads of lions. It is engraved with floral arabesques and a calligraphic inscription. The engraved lines are filled in with black pigment (niello).
Fig. 36. A Persian sword hilt of solid gold, XIII-XIV century, inscribed: “Salute to Mohammed”.
PROJECTILE WEAPONS: BOWS AND CROSSBOWS
Ever since a hairy primitive first picked up a stone and threw it, man has tried to find better and better ways to strike from a safe distance. The devices which he has produced for this purpose have been many and varied, yet, strangely enough, remarkable similarities often occur between inventions of widely separated areas. In ancient Peruvian graves have been found cord slings for hurling stones almost identical with those used by herd boys in Palestine today, as in the time of David and Goliath. Bronze arrowheads from prehistoric Japan are much the same as those excavated from Roman Britain. The bow has several different characteristic forms distributed throughout the world, but its fundamental principle is everywhere the same.
Fig. 37 (Left). A light crossbow like this would be used by a young man or an athletic girl. Flemish, XV century.