hatf

[S.Al-Anizi]

Originally Posted by ariel

If there are no independent ways to ascertain their age, we are in a circular logic vortex:
" Pre-Isalmic Arabian swords were straight as evidenced by the collection of the Sacred Swords.
The Sacred Swords are Pre-Islamic in origin because they are straight"
The only dating on these swords is the tradition that they belonged to a defined personality. If we cannot be sure that they belonged to that personality, how do we know their dating?

Valid point Ariel. For one, pre-islamic arabic poetry praises watered steel indian blades, and the fact that these swords are of wootz, and are straight, does give some credibility to the claim that they are early arab. What we need is the primary documents which listed these blades falling into the hands of Sultan Selim I after his conquest of Egypt (as the story goes), taking them from the last Abbasid Caliph, whom allegedly possesed these items.