Post by Daubee on Mar 12, 2008 17:28:41 GMT -5
A scimitar (IPA: /ˈsɪmɪtə/) is a sword with a curved blade design finding its origins in Southwest Asia (Middle East).
The name can be used to refer to almost any Middle Eastern or South Asian sword with a curved blade. They include Arabic saif, Indian talwar, Persian shamshir, and Turkish kilij, among others. These blades all were developed from the ubiquitous parent sword, the Turko-Mongol saber.
Etymology
The word "scimitar", known in English since 1548, derived from Medieval French cimeterre (15c.) or directly from Italian scimitarra, of unknown origin. Ottoman Turkish would be the expected source, but no such word has been found there.
A possible origin of 'scimitar' is from the Persian shim- or shamshir. This, in turn, is said to be derived from Middle Persian "shafshçr" meaning; "lion's claw" (sham = claw, shir = lion), in reference to the sword's curve. However, this is likely a folk etymology, as the word is already attested in Middle Persian with the meaning "sword".
Scimitars in history
In the form of the khopesh, the scimitar started playing a sometimes significant role in Middle Eastern warfare more than two millennia before the advent of Islam. Famed scholar and Egyptologist, Zahi Hawass asserts that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty (circa 1600 B.C.) used new weapons technologies borrowed from the Hyksos, including "the scimitar" as important tools in fostering Egypt's regional domination which characterized much of the New Kingdom period . Some might judge that Hawass' use of the term anachronistic but nonetheless this provides evidence for the use of something akin to the scimitar in well before the development of the Persian shamshir. Many Islamic traditions adopted scimitars, as attested by their symbolic occurrence, e.g. on the Coat of arms of Saudi Arabia or the traditional surik in the Coat of arms of East Timor.
The scimitar was also used in Arabia as a form of gladiatorial combat similar to the Roman fashion.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scimitar
The name can be used to refer to almost any Middle Eastern or South Asian sword with a curved blade. They include Arabic saif, Indian talwar, Persian shamshir, and Turkish kilij, among others. These blades all were developed from the ubiquitous parent sword, the Turko-Mongol saber.
Etymology
The word "scimitar", known in English since 1548, derived from Medieval French cimeterre (15c.) or directly from Italian scimitarra, of unknown origin. Ottoman Turkish would be the expected source, but no such word has been found there.
A possible origin of 'scimitar' is from the Persian shim- or shamshir. This, in turn, is said to be derived from Middle Persian "shafshçr" meaning; "lion's claw" (sham = claw, shir = lion), in reference to the sword's curve. However, this is likely a folk etymology, as the word is already attested in Middle Persian with the meaning "sword".
Scimitars in history
In the form of the khopesh, the scimitar started playing a sometimes significant role in Middle Eastern warfare more than two millennia before the advent of Islam. Famed scholar and Egyptologist, Zahi Hawass asserts that the Egyptians of the 18th Dynasty (circa 1600 B.C.) used new weapons technologies borrowed from the Hyksos, including "the scimitar" as important tools in fostering Egypt's regional domination which characterized much of the New Kingdom period . Some might judge that Hawass' use of the term anachronistic but nonetheless this provides evidence for the use of something akin to the scimitar in well before the development of the Persian shamshir. Many Islamic traditions adopted scimitars, as attested by their symbolic occurrence, e.g. on the Coat of arms of Saudi Arabia or the traditional surik in the Coat of arms of East Timor.
The scimitar was also used in Arabia as a form of gladiatorial combat similar to the Roman fashion.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scimitar