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Scimitar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scimitar, XVII Century, from India.
This article is about the scimitar sword. For other senses of this word, see scimitar (disambiguation).
A scimitar (sh'mit'ter) is a sword with a curved blade design finding its origins in western Asia (Middle East).
The name can be used to refer to almost any Middle Eastern 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.
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Etymology
The word "scimitar", known in English since 1548, derived from Medieval French cimeterre (15c.) or directly from Italian scimitarra, of uncertain origin. Ottoman Turkish would be the expected source, but no such word has been found there. The probable origin of scimitar is from the Persian shim- or shamshir (pronounced "shamsher," ultimately from Middle Persian "shafshēr" meaning «the tail of a lion», in reference to the sword's curve).
The following swords are usually called scimitars:
- Shamshir (Persian)
- Kilij (Turkish)
- Talwar (Indian)
- Nimcha (Moroccan)
- Pulwar (Afghan)
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 (p 21-22). Some might judge the 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 in fiction and popular culture
Arabs with scimitars from Boulanger's painting A Tale of 1001 Nights.
In fiction, warriors of Middle Eastern cultures often use scimitars, for example the character Yellow Robe in Journey to the West.
Scimitars are also commonly used when the inclusion of a fairly exotic weapon is desired by authors of fantasy fiction and role-playing games. The Calormen warriors and royalty fight with scimitars in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, as does Prince Borric, the main character in Raymond E. Feist's Prince of the Blood. Fantasy author R.A. Salvatore's dark elf protagonist Drizzt Do'Urden wields a pair of enchanted scimitars. In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, most Orcs wield scimitars. Also, in the Redwall series, the vermins' typical weapon is the scimitar. Scimitars are also a popular weapon in RuneScape. In the SNES version of Prince of Persia the player's/prince's blade is a scimitar.
Additionally, the scimitar has been a fairly popular namesake employed by comic book and science fiction writers. A wrestler, a minor Marvel Comics villain, and space craft in the Star Trek, Star Wars and Wing Commander universes have all been named after the scimitar. Jafat also uses a Scimitar in the "Hadrabubdla - Ashti's quest" comics.
Sources and references
- Etymology OnLine
- Hawass, Zahi. (2005). Tutankhamun And the Golden Age of the Pharoahs. Washington DC: National Geographic Society
Categories: Medieval weapons | Middle Eastern swords
