Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

235 Alexander S. Matveev. A Case of Survival of an Early Medieval Straight Sword... from entering into much technical detail now. Thus, I would limit myself with highlighting main points, also mentioning some still pop- ular misconceptions. II. Kaskara : General characteristics The Sudanese sword has some characteristic features, whichmakes it distinct fromother similar weapons. Kaskara has a straight double-edged blade, which is normally very long—about 90 cm; its total length usually varying from 100 to 110 cm, sometimes even longer, ca 115 cm — like a gold-hilted ‘Ali Dinar sword belonged to Sir Harold MacMichael, 1 and a sword from the Edinburgh Museum (A. Loan 144.22), though shorter versions (85–90 cm) are also known; the width of the blade is 3,5–4,5 cm; the hilt’s length — ca 12–15 cm (the grip itself is usu- ally ca 10–12 cm); its weight is normally ca 2 pounds (the European blades are often heavier, up to 1100 g or even more, while locally made blades produced in Kassala are usually 800–900 g). 2 The swords tip is smoothly pointed/ rounded; the blade is not tapering, the upper part of the forte near the hilt is only slightly broader and thicker than the rest of the blade, only at the last few cm near the tip the blade starts curving smoothly down to the point. Sometimes the blades are slightly narrower Dress . URL: http://vikingsword.com/ethsword/hunley/kaskara_silver_dress. pdf, and Anderson J., A. Ali Mohaned, et. al. Royal Regalia: a sword of the last Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar // Sudan and Nubia: Bulletin of the Sudan Archaeological Research Society . No. 20. 2016. P. 161–169. 1 Anderson J., et al. Royal Regalia: a sword of the last Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar. P. 166–168. See: https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6065527. 2 E. g., one of my 20thC. Kassala swords weights 810 g, other two—880 g. Usually, the weight of swords is not being published, so I have no statistics, esp. for older swords. Herman Bell’s early 20th C. sword with a European blade weights 1100 g; the sword with a Persian blade published by D. Alexander [Islamic Arms andArmor in theMetropolitanMuseumof Art. NewYork, 2015. P. 180] is 1288 g. The “Swordis” website considers the most common kaskara weight as 1,2 kg, but provides no reference [David Mickov. Kaskara Swords: Unveiling Sudan’s Storied Blades and Battlefield Prowess. URL: https:// swordis.com/blog/kaskara ]. It would be of great help if owners/keepers would spare a few moments to weight out their swords and publish the results.