Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

241 Alexander S. Matveev. A Case of Survival of an Early Medieval Straight Sword... turing required both a developed steel production (e. g., modern mass swordsmaking inKassala is based on the use of…LandRover and various lorry leaf springs, 1 obviously unavailable in the 19th C.) and high level of professionalismon the swordsmith side. Thus, blades production in some meaningful numbers in Sudanwas always a result of the regional author- ities’ efforts, when there was high demand in weapons; viz., theMahdist state in the 1880s–1890s, and ‘Ali Dinar’s Sultanate in 1898–1916. In other periods the imported European blades, of a better quality (and perhaps even cheaper than to produce them locally), met the demand. This was true as regards other sophisticated military production. Thus, the Sudanese armourers not only mounted European blades, but also used the late 19thC. European industriallymanufactured “split rings” to produce and repair chain-mail coats (a bizarre example of suchmail can be seen, e. g., in the Royal Museum of Scotland). A high-quality steel of these rings (obviously created for other purposes), provided a better protection than Sudanese local iron mail rings. For the neighbouring Arabia, there is evidence of T. E. Lawrence about using split rings from Birmingham for repairing mail coats. Besides, despite of a certain difference in the quality of steel and its composition, it is difficult — until a metallographic analysis is done — to distinguish a genuine European blade from its Sudanese imitation. Facing similar problem in Arabia, Elgood notes that the local blades in Oman tended to be lighter, and their “fullers are more crudely drawn”. 2 The same thumb rule could be applied to the Sudanese swords. On the other hand, imported blades were often re-worked/ ‘improved’ by local craftsmen anyhow. Arabic inscriptions and imitations of famous producers’ stamps were often added to increase their market value as well as to enhance their battle quality through securing divine protection to the sword bearer —by adding Qur’anic inscriptions, ‘magic squares’ and maker’s marks which also had magic value. 3 1 Hunley E. The Social Economics of Small Craft Production: The Sword and Knife Makers of Kassala. P. 5. 2 Elgood R. Op. cit. P. 16. 3 Sometimes stamps’ interpretation by the Sudanese customers was absolutely different from that of the swords makers themselves. E. g., the famous ‘Orb and Cross’ sign was interpreted in Sudan as a drum called nugara