And it so happened that in the process of exchanging opinions on materials published in VO, it became clear that a fairly significant part of the users of this site were interested in ... the Bronze Age and, in particular, the weapons and armor of the legendary Trojan War. Well, the topic is really very interesting. Moreover, it is familiar to almost everyone, even at the level of a school textbook for the fifth grade. “Copper-sharp spears”, “helmet-shining Hector”, “famous shield of Achilles” - all this is from there. And besides, this historical event itself is unique. After all, people learned about him from the poem, work of art. But it turned out that after learning about it and showing appropriate interest, they acquired knowledge about a culture previously unknown to them.

Black-figure ceramic vessel from Corinth depicting characters from the Trojan War. (About 590 - 570 BC). (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Well, you will need to start from the very beginning. Namely, that the myth of Troy, besieged by the Greeks, was not confirmed by convincing facts until the end of the 19th century. But then, fortunately for all mankind, the romantic childhood dream of Heinrich Schliemann received powerful financial support (Schliemann became rich!) and he immediately went to Asia Minor in search of the legendary Troy. After 355 AD this name was not mentioned anywhere, Schliemann decided that the description Herodotus had was identical to the Hissarlik hill and began to dig there. And he dug there from 1871 for more than 20 years, until his death. At the same time, he was no archaeologist! He removed finds from the excavation site without describing them, threw away everything that did not seem valuable to him and dug, dug, dug... Until he found “his” Troy!

Many scientists of that time doubted that this was really Troy, but British Prime Minister William Gladstone began to patronize him, he got professional archaeologist Wilhelm Dornfeld into his team and gradually the secret ancient city began to open! Their most amazing discovery was that they discovered as many as nine cultural layers, that is, each time a new Troy was built on the ruins of the previous one. The oldest, of course, was Troy I, and the “youngest” was Troy IX of Roman times. Today, even more such layers (and sublayers) have been found - 46, so it turned out to be not at all easy to study Troy!

Schliemann believed that the Troy he needed was Troy II, but in fact the real Troy is number VII. It has been proven that the city died in a fire, and the remains of people found in this layer eloquently indicate that they died a violent death. The year when this happened is generally considered to be 1250 BC.

Ruins of ancient Troy.

It is interesting that during the excavations of Troy, Heinrich Schliemann discovered a treasure of gold jewelry, silver cups, bronze weapons, and he took all this for the “treasure of King Priam.” Later it turned out that the “Priam’s treasure” belongs to an earlier era, but that’s not the point, it’s that Schliemann simply appropriated it. His wife Sofia, a like-minded person and assistant, who secretly removed all these things from the excavations, helped him to do this unnoticed. But officially this treasure should have belonged to Turkey, but it did not get it except for a few small things. They placed him in the Berlin Museum, but during the Second World War he disappeared, and until 1991 no one knew where he was or what happened to him. But in 1991 it became known that since 1945 the treasure, taken as a trophy, has been in Moscow at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin can still be seen today in room No. 3.

Large diadem from “Hoard A” 2400 – 2200. BC. (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin)

However, even without finds from this treasure, we know a lot about that time today. The fact is that professional archaeologists took Schliemann’s discovery as a challenge, but took into account his experience and began to dig in all the places mentioned in Homer’s Iliad - in Mycenae, Pylos, and Crete. They found the “golden mask of Agamemnon,” a lot of other items from that era, and just a very large number of swords and daggers.

Moreover, the good thing is that they were bronze, not iron, and therefore well preserved! So, this is what the most learned historians think about swords and daggers from the era of the Trojan War. different countries the world, including the “master of swords” Evart Oakeshott, in, so to speak, a concentrated form...

In their opinion, the early swords of the Aegean Bronze Age are among the most striking artifacts of the era in terms of craftsmanship and luxury. Moreover, these could be ritual items, and weapons actually used in the war. Early swords developed from daggers. The shape is derived from stone daggers. The stone, however, is very brittle and therefore cannot be made into a long sword. With the introduction of copper and bronze, daggers eventually evolved into swords.

CI type rapier sword. Koudonia, Crete. Length 83 cm.

The hilt for this sword.

The earliest swords from the Aegean period were found in Anatolia, Turkey, and date back to approximately 3300 BC. e. The evolution of bladed weapons from bronze is as follows: from the dagger or knife in the Early Bronze Age, to swords (“rapiers”) optimized for thrusting (Middle Bronze Age), and then to the typical swords with leaf-shaped blades of the Late Bronze Age.

One of the earliest swords of the Aegean world is the sword from Naxos (circa 2800-2300 BC). The length of this sword is 35.6 cm, that is, it looks more like a dagger. A copper sword was discovered on the Cyclades Islands in Amorgos. The length of this sword is already 59 cm. Several Minoan bronze short swords were discovered in Heraklion and Siwa. General design them clearly shows that they also descend from early leaf-shaped daggers.

But one of the most interesting inventions of the Aegean Bronze Age was big sword. These weapons, which appeared in the middle of the second millennium BC on the island of Crete and on the territory of mainland Greece, differ from all earlier examples.

famous palace in Knossos. Modern look. Photo by A. Ponomarev.

The territory occupied by the palace was huge and there was so much they could not dig up there. Photo by A. Ponomarev.

Analysis of some specimens shows that the material is an alloy of copper and tin, or arsenic. When the percentage of copper or tin is high, the blades can be distinguished even by their appearance, as they have a reddish or silver color respectively. Was this done intentionally to imitate expensive metals such as gold and silver so that these swords or daggers would have a beautiful appearance, or is it just the result of an incorrect calculation required quantity additives to the alloy are unknown. To typologize bronze swords found in Greece, the Sandars classification is used, according to which swords are located in eight main groups, under the letters A to H, plus numerous subtypes, which are not given in this case due to their abundance.

Sandars classification. It clearly shows that the most ancient swords 500 years before the fall of Troy (which is believed to have taken place in 1250 BC) were exclusively piercing! Two hundred years before it, swords with V-shaped crosshairs and a high edge on the blade appeared. The handle was now also cast together with the blade. 1250 is characterized by swords with an H-shaped handle, which in principle can be used to both chop and stab. Its base was cast together with the blade, after which wooden or bone “cheeks” were attached to it with rivets.

The connection between Minoan triangular small swords or daggers and long swords can be traced, for example, in an example found in Malia on Crete (circa 1700 BC). It has distinctive blade rivet holes at the tail and a distinct rib. That is, this sword, like early daggers, did not have a hilt. The handle was wooden and fastened with rivets with massive caps. It is clear that it was impossible to chop with such a sword, but to stab - as much as you wanted! The finish of its handle, which was covered with a gold engraved sheet, was surprisingly luxurious, and a wonderful piece of rock crystal was used as a pommel.

Dagger circa 1500 BC. Length 24.3 cm. Decorated with a notch with gold wire.

Long rapier swords were found in the palace on Crete in Mallia, in Mycenaean tombs, on the Cyclades islands, on Ionian Islands and in Central Europe. Moreover, both in Bulgaria and Denmark, Sweden and England. These swords sometimes reach a meter in length. All have a riveted handle and a high diamond-shaped rib, except when it has complex decoration.

The hilts of these swords were made of wood or ivory and were sometimes decorated with gold plates. The swords date back to 1600 – 1500. BC, and the most recent examples to the period around 1400 BC. The length ranges from 74 to 111 cm. They also find sheaths, or rather their remains. Based on these finds, we can conclude that they were made of wood and often wore gold jewelry. Moreover, the preservation of metal and even wooden (!) parts, which made it possible to carry out radiocarbon analysis of these products, makes it possible to completely reconstruct swords and daggers of this period, which was done, in particular, on the instructions of the archaeological museum in Mycenae.

Swords were worn on richly decorated baldrics, the decor of which has also survived to our time. Well, confirmation that piercing blows were inflicted with such swords are the images of warriors who fight with them on rings and seals. At the same time, modern dating shows that a number of such swords were made during the 200 years of Homer's Trojan War!

Reconstruction of an F2c sword by Peter Connolly.

In this regard, many historians note that such long piercing swords were in service with the “peoples of the sea” and, in particular, the famous Shardans, known in Egypt from images on the walls of the temple in Medinet Habu in 1180 BC.

It is worth once again drawing attention to the fact that the existing opinion that these swords are suitable for anything other than their immediate purpose is incorrect. Replicas of these swords were tested, and they demonstrated their high effectiveness as piercing weapon, designed to make deadly attacks in the fight of real fencers!

That is, today finds of bronze swords and daggers in the area Aegean Sea so voluminous that they made it possible to develop their typology and also draw a number of interesting conclusions. It is clear that all of them simply cannot be attributed directly to the Trojan War. This is nonsense! But we can talk about the “Homeric time”, the Cretan-Mycenaean civilization, the “Aegean region”, etc.

Reconstruction of two Naue II swords with wooden hilts with rivets. This type of sword was characteristic of Central and Northern Europe around 1000 BC.

Moreover, the spread of such weapons in European countries tells us that perhaps trade relations at that time were much more developed than is commonly believed, so it is quite possible to speak of “European internationalization” and “integration” in the Bronze Age. Specifically, this can be expressed in the fact that there was a certain people of seafarers - the same “peoples of the sea”, who sailed around the whole of Europe and spread Mycenaean and Cretan weapons, and, in particular, swords throughout Europe.

Image of warriors of the “peoples of the sea” (Shardans) on a relief from Medinet Habu.

Somewhere they found use, but where the war tactics were different, these weapons were purchased as “overseas curiosities” and sacrificed to the gods. In addition, we can draw a conclusion about tactics: there was a people whose warriors were a caste, and a rather closed one at that. The warriors of this people learned to use their long piercing swords from childhood. But it was impossible to just pick up this sword and cut with it from the shoulder. But then this caste died out.

Type F swords depicted in a fresco from Pylos (circa 1300 BC)

“Soldiers” were needed for the “mass army,” whom there was neither time nor energy to train, and piercing swords very quickly replaced cutting ones. After all, the chopping blow is intuitive and much easier to master than the thrust. Especially with a sword of such a complex design.

Achilles and Agamemnon: Roman mosaic from Naples and... a Roman sword on Achilles' hip!

Some may be surprised, but most of the written history of ancient Hellas known to us is the Iron Age, and not the Bronze Age at all. And the battle of Thermopylae, and in general this whole Greco-Persian mess is the era of the Iron Age.

The Battle of Thermopylae, by the way, took place generally not so long ago - in 480 BC. When Spartan spears in a narrow gorge ripped open the bellies of the Persians, in some places in the northwest, on the boot-shaped peninsula, the not-so-small city of Rome already existed, having just thrown off the power of the Etruscan kings and proclaimed the Republic. Its legions had not yet reached the limits of the "boot", but Rome was patient. He had nowhere to rush.

And the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean ended in... 1200 BC.

Bronze swords. And now it's still in good condition

But nevertheless, for almost half a millennium, Greek hoplites, Macedonian phalangites and other warriors of the Mediterranean region were armed with bronze swords and bronze shields. Their heads were covered with bronze helmets, and the spearheads were also bronze. Not iron. Although they had been able to smelt iron from ore and forge it for several centuries, they mostly made crafts from it for household purposes. Why?

A hoplite from the first line of the phalanx. The red cape indicates that he is a Spartan. Well, the “lambda” on the shield is Lacedaemon...)

The interesting thing is that at first a bronze sword was much stronger than an iron sword...))

Technological features

Initially, bronze was made not from an alloy of copper and tin, but from an alloy of copper and arsenic. Arsenic bronze is quite hard and durable, although it does not really hold an edge. In general, a sword made from it will be a chisel anyway.

Subsequently, instead of poisonous arsenic, they began to add tin to the alloy, thereby obtaining classic bronze. Tin bronze, unlike arsenic bronze, was suitable for alteration. Simply put, a broken sword made of arsenic bronze cannot be put back together - if the fragments are melted, the arsenic will evaporate, and what will remain is pure nonsense. And from tin - easily. Throw it in the oven, melt it, pour it into a new mold - and voila!

And the main technological feature of bronze is that swords, spearheads and elements for covering shields were made from it... They were cast. The metal was melted, poured into a ceramic mold and allowed to cool. All is ready.

Solid cut-and-thrust sword

The photo above is a technologically advanced copy of a bronze sword from around the 6th century BC, from the Mediterranean region. Its length is 74 cm and its weight is only 650 g.

Bronze, unlike iron, becomes stronger after casting; forging destroys it. But iron needs to be forged. Although the ancient people could not melt iron even if they wanted to.

Thus, the same Spartans of the era of King Leonidas could well have made an iron sword. They knew this metal itself. But they didn't want to...

The fact is that pure iron, fresh from a cheese-blowing oven, is very soft. Much softer than bronze, which by that time in Hellas had long been in the making. Different varieties - where necessary, we will add tin, where necessary - we will subtract...

In order for an iron sword to become stronger than a bronze one, it must be made using the “batch” technology - forge welding elements of iron and hard steel together. Some people in Asia Minor already knew this technology, but even the Persian “immortals” - the famous guard of Xerxes - were considered immortal not because they wore iron armor, but because the number of their detachment was always maintained at the same level - exactly 10 thousand. It’s as if they didn’t die at all))

Immortals. Persian bas-relief

So it turned out that the main advantage of iron tools in the era of Tsar Leonid and Battle of Thermopylae was in their cheapness. There were iron tools - made from "raw" iron - and they cost less than bronze ones, but they were not suitable for military purposes. Iron swords at this time were still too soft. It will take a lot of time before the technology of welded iron spreads, before they learn to harden this metal and process it more or less decently. And then the same Romans for another three hundred years would have iron chain mail (made of soft iron), and bronze helmets.

The main advantages of a bronze sword over an iron one in the era of the Battle of Thermopylae

1. Easier to manufacture - swords and other objects were simply cast in molds - entirely, along with the handles. Iron had to be forged.

2. Hardness and strength - tin bronze ( exact amount The tin in the composition was selected through trial and error) was much stronger than raw iron. It was more likely that a bronze sword at that time would cut through an iron one than vice versa.

3. Corrosion. Bronze oxidizes over time, but not that much. But raw iron, which always contains some admixture of carbon, quickly rusts to the point of complete destruction.

Iron ancient Greek kopis

The only significant drawback of bronze, which directly affected its cost, was the need for tin. There was little tin, and it was quite expensive. Tin was mined in the form of the mineral cassiterite, from which it was subsequently smelted. But cassiterite itself is quite rare; at that time it was not mined using the ore method, but was found in placers on river banks. They called it "tin stone".

Subsequently, the “tin stone” began to be transported from an incredible distance - from the British Isles, then called the Tin Isles.

But the spread of iron weapons and armor was directly related to the development of steelmaking technologies, which, again, directly depended on the progress of technological progress in general. Yes, iron ultimately had greater potential, but few people knew about this in the fifth century BC...)

Original article - on the channel https://zen.yandex.ru/dnevnik_rolevika

: stone century, bronze And iron. It was invented in the 19th century. The basis was the hypothetical progress of labor tools: from primitive stone to advanced iron.

The idea is quite speculative. Since it is difficult to find any noticeable progress in tools before the production of iron. And people began to master iron quite late, hardly earlier than the 15th century. Moreover, iron tools appeared en masse in peasant life only in the 19th century. Therefore, without additional factors, archeology is not able to distinguish an 18th century village from a Neolithic village.

Before the mass production of iron, there was no significant increase in labor productivity in agriculture, the basis of the pre-industrial economy. Let me make a reservation: agricultural productivity has grown, but mainly due to increased efficiency of agricultural technologies, and not tools. Perhaps the only thing that iron products had a qualitative influence on was navigation. Without iron nails and bolts serious sea ​​ship you can't build it. An iron ax is also a good thing in carpentry.

In general, although progress in metalworking had an impact on the economy, it was not of decisive importance until the 18th and 19th centuries. But it was of utmost importance in the production of weapons.

By the way, do you know what’s funny about the famous legend aboutGordian knot . A complex knot of leather belt or something equally strong served as a secure lock. There was nothing to cut it with...

And if everything is more or less clear with stone and iron tools, then bronze ones have always raised doubts. Bronze is a rather difficult material to process. Let's say it is possible to cast an arrow or spear tip. It seems that it is possible to make some kind of armor or helmet.

Although I have my doubts about the bronze helmet. Last year I visitedOlympia Museum . I saw bronze ancient Greek helmets there.

There are deposits of them in the storerooms.

You can't see it in the photo, but you can take my word for it. The helmets are tiny. Children's. It will be possible to put it on the head of a child no older than five years old. We asked local tour guides. They shrug their shoulders and, they say, are surprised.

Or the ancient Greeks were hobbits. Or cast a bronze helmet complex shape For an adult, it is technically difficult for the helmet to be thin-walled and therefore not excessively heavy. I don't have any other versions.

Well, God bless them, bronze helmets and armor. A critical question about bronze swords.

For a long time I was interested in the mystery of bronze swords, which, according to official history, were very common before the start of iron processing. Bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, can be used to cast all sorts of crafts. But making swords is difficult, since bronze is usually a hard and brittle material. I have long been interested in the question of what official history says on this issue.

And one day I came across a series of articles about Bronze Age weapons. I placed the link at the end of this note.

The articles are a compilation of historical information and opinions of official history on the subject. I will quote the article that talks about bronze swords.

“... it turned out that a fairly significant part of the users of this site are interested in... Bronze Age weapons and, in particular, the weapons and armor of the legendary Trojan War. Well, the topic is really very interesting.”

“... To typologize bronze swords found in Greece, the Sandars classification is used, according to which swords are located in eight main groups, under the letters A to H, plus numerous subtypes, which are not given in this case due to their abundance.”

"Sandars classification. It clearly shows that the most ancient swords 500 years before the fall of Troy (which is believed to have taken place in 1250 BC) were exclusively piercing! Two hundred years before it, swords with V-shaped crosshairs and a high edge on the blade appeared. The handle was now also cast together with the blade. 1250 is characterized by swords with an H-shaped handle, which in principle can be used to both chop and stab. Its base was cast together with the blade, after which wooden or bone “cheeks” were attached to it with rivets.

The idea of ​​a bronze sword in the form of a rapier is clear. It is difficult to obtain a good cutting blade from bronze; a sharp tip is easier to make. However, the genesis of the bronze rapier sword is not clear. The evolution of iron weapons is clear: knife, dagger, sword, and so on. And what did you wash away the bronze rapier with? It is wiser to use a spear or dart with a bronze tip.

There was an uproar in the comments to the article. Many doubted the sufficient effectiveness of bronze swords. And the author took the trouble to deepen the topic. A lot of interesting things were discovered. It turned out that in the West there is a whole industry for the production (reconstruction) of bronze swords.

“After a long search, I managed to find three specialists in this field. Two in England and one in the USA and obtain permission from them to use their text and photographic materials. But now regulars of VO and simply its visitors have a unique opportunity to see their work, get acquainted with the technologies and their own comments on this interesting topic.

I’ll start by giving the floor to Neil Burridge, a Briton who has been working with bronze weapons for 12 years.”

It turned out that some types of bronze can be forged.

“.. the cutting edge of the blade of bronze swords was always forged to increase its strength! The sword itself was cast, but the cutting edges were always forged!”

But, as they say, it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times. Let's lookbronze sword test video from the mentioned British masterNeil Burridge.

Neil Burridge, a highly skilled maker of Bronze Age swords, sent me an unpolished version of a Ewart Park type sword for hard, abusive testing to get an idea of ​​the material's limits.

So how do you like it?

For practical application, in general, suitable. Although the quality is inferior to a steel sword.

The problem, however, is that this bronze sword is an achievement modern science and technology. The alloy is produced with an accuracy of a fraction of a percent. Where did such knowledge of chemistry and the necessary purity of metals come from in ancient times? An ancient sword would be significantly inferior to the product of a modern British master. That is, it would not be suitable for practical needs.

So I finally lost faith in the Bronze Age.

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Bronze swords

Before the widespread use of iron and steel, swords were made of copper, and then bronze was made of alloys of copper with tin or arsenic. Bronze is very resistant to corrosion, which is why we have quite a lot archaeological finds bronze swords, however, their attribution and clear dating are often very difficult.

Bronze is a fairly durable material that holds an edge well. In most cases, bronze with a tin content of about 10% was used, which is characterized by moderate hardness and relatively high ductility, but in China bronze with a tin content of up to 20% was used - harder, but also more fragile (sometimes only blades were made from hard bronze, and the inner part of the blade is made of softer material).

Bronze swords

Bronze is a precipitation-hardening alloy and cannot be hardened like steel, but can be significantly strengthened by cold deformation (forging) of cutting edges. Bronze cannot “spring” like hardened steel, but a blade made from it can bend within significant limits without breaking or losing its properties - having straightened it, it can be used again. Often, to prevent deformation, bronze blades had massive stiffening ribs. Long blades made of bronze were supposed to be especially prone to bending, so they were used quite rarely; the typical blade length of a bronze sword is no more than 60 centimeters. However, it is completely wrong to call short bronze swords exclusively piercing - modern experiments, on the contrary, have shown a very high cutting ability of this weapon; its relatively short length limited only the combat distance.

Bronze sword

Since the main technology for processing bronze was casting, it was relatively easy to make a more effective, complexly curved blade from it, so bronze weapons of ancient civilizations often had a curved shape with a one-sided sharpening - this includes the ancient Egyptian khopesh, the ancient Greek mahaira and the kopis borrowed by the Greeks from the Persians. It is worth noting that all of them are modern classification refer to sabers or cutlasses, not swords.

Kopis (modern replica)

The title of the oldest sword in the world today is claimed by a bronze sword, which was found by Russian archaeologist A.D. Rezepkin in the Republic of Adygea, in a stone tomb of the Novosvobodnaya archaeological culture. This sword is currently on display in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. This bronze proto-sword (total length 63 cm, hilt length 11 cm) dates back to the second third of the 4th millennium BC. e. It should be noted that by modern standards this is more of a dagger than a sword, although the shape of the weapon suggests that it was quite suitable for slashing. In the megalithic burial, the bronze proto-sword was symbolically bent.

Bent Bronze Sword

Before this discovery, the most ancient swords were considered to be those found by the Italian archaeologist Palmieri, who discovered a treasure with weapons in the upper reaches of the Tigris in the ancient palace of Arslantepe: spearheads and several swords (or long daggers) from 46 to 62 cm long. Palmieri’s finds date back to the end of the 4th millennium.

The next major find is swords from Arslantepe (Malatya). From Anatolia, swords gradually spread to both the Middle East and Europe.

Sword from the site of Bet Dagan near Jaffa, dating back to 2400-2000 BC. e., had a length of about 1 meter and was made of almost pure copper with a small admixture of arsenic.

Copper sword from Bet Dagan, ca. 2400-2000 BC e. Kept in the collection of the British Museum

Also very long bronze swords dating back to around 1700 BC. e., were discovered in the area of ​​the Minoan civilization - the so-called “type A” swords, which had a total length of about 1 meter and even more. These were predominantly stabbing swords with a tapering blade, apparently designed to hit a well-armored target.

Modern reconstructions of various types of Mycenaean swords, including (the top two) - the so-called. type A.

Very ancient swords were found during excavations of monuments of the Harrapan (Indus) civilization, with dating according to some data up to 2300 BC. e. In the area of ​​the ocher painted pottery culture, many swords dating back to 1700-1400 were found. BC e.

Sword, bronze, 62 cm, 1300-1100 BC. Central Europe

Bronze swords have been known in China since at least the Shang period, with the earliest finds dating back to around 1200 BC. uh..

Ancient Chinese bronze sword

Many Celtic bronze swords have been discovered in Great Britain.

Celtic bronze swords from National Museum Scotland.

Iron swords have been known since at least the 8th century BC. e, and began to be actively used from the 6th century BC. e. Although soft, non-hardening iron did not have any special advantages over bronze, weapons made from it quickly became cheaper and more accessible than bronze - iron is found in nature much more often than copper, and the tin necessary to obtain bronze in the ancient world was generally mined only in several places. Polybius mentions that Gallic iron swords of the 3rd century BC. e. often bent in battle, forcing owners to straighten them. Some researchers believe that the Greeks simply misinterpreted the Gallic custom of bending sacrificial swords, but the very ability to bend without breaking is distinctive feature namely iron swords (made of low-carbon steel that cannot be hardened) - a sword made of hardened steel can only be broken, not bent.

Ancient iron sword

In China steel swords, significantly superior in quality to both bronze and iron, appeared already at the end of the Western Zhou period, although they did not become widespread until the Qin or even Han era, that is, the end of the 3rd century BC. e.

Chinese Tao sword from the late Qing Dynasty.

Around the same time, the inhabitants of India began to use weapons made of steel, including those similar to welded Damascus. According to the periplus of the Erythraean Sea, in the 1st century AD. e. Indian steel blades arrived in Greece.

An Etruscan sword from the 7th century found in Vetulonia. BC e. was obtained by connecting several parts with different carbon contents: the inner part of the blade was made of steel with a carbon content of about 0.25%, the blade was made of iron with a carbon content of less than 1%. Another Romano-Etruscan sword of the 4th century BC. e. has a carbon content of up to 0.4%, which implies the use of carburization in its production. Nevertheless, both swords were of low quality metal, with a large number of impurities.

Etruscan swords

The widespread transition to blades made of hardened carbon steel was very delayed - for example, in Europe it ended only around the 10th century AD. e. In Africa, iron swords (mambele) were used back in the 19th century (although it is worth noting that iron processing in Africa began very early, and with the exception of the Mediterranean coast, Egypt and Nubia, Africa “jumped” the Bronze Age, immediately switching to iron processing).

The greatest fame in classical antiquity received the following types piercing-cutting swords:

Xiphos (modern replica)

An ancient Greek sword with a total length of no more than 70 cm, the blade is pointed, leaf-shaped, less often straight;

The general name for all swords among the Romans, today is usually associated with the specific short sword of the legionnaire;

Scythian sword - from VII BC. e.;

Meotian sword - from the 5th to the 2nd century. BC e.

Later, the Celts and Sarmatians began to use cutting swords. The Sarmatians used swords in equestrian combat, their length reached 110 cm. The crosshair of the Sarmatian sword is quite narrow (only 2-3 cm wider than the blade), the handle is long (from 15 cm), the pommel is in the shape of a ring.

Sarmatian swords

Spata, which is of Celtic origin, was used by both foot soldiers and horsemen. The total length of the spatha reached 90 cm, there was no crosspiece, and the pommel was massive and spherical. Initially, the spat had no tip.

Modern reconstruction of a cavalry spatha from the 2nd century AD. e.

In the last century of the Roman Empire, spathas became the standard weapon of legionnaires - both cavalry and (a shorter version, sometimes called "semispatha" - English semispatha) infantrymen. The latter option is considered transitional from the swords of antiquity to the weapons of the Middle Ages.

Bronze swords appeared around the 17th century BC. e. in the area of ​​the Aegean and Black Seas. The design of such a weapon was nothing more than an improvement of its predecessor, the dagger. It was significantly lengthened, resulting in a new type of weapon. The history of bronze swords, high-quality photos of which are given below, their varieties, models of different armies will be discussed in this article.

History of appearance

As stated earlier, Bronze Age swords appeared in the 17th century BC. e., however, they managed to completely displace daggers as the main type of weapon only in the 1st century BC. e. From the earliest times of sword production, their length could reach more than 100 cm. The technology for producing swords of this length was presumably developed in what is now Greece.

Several alloys were used to make swords, most commonly tin, copper and arsenic. The very first specimens, which were more than 100 cm long, were made around the 1700s BC. e. Standard Bronze Age swords reached 60-80 cm in length, while weapons that were shorter were also produced, but they had different names. So, for example, it was called a dagger or short sword.

Around 1400 BC. e. prevalence long swords was mainly characteristic of the Aegean Sea and part of the southeast modern Europe. This type of weapon began to become widespread in the 2nd century BC. e. in regions such as Central Asia, China, India, Middle East, UK and Central Europe.

Before bronze began to be used as the main material for making weapons, obsidian or flint stone was used exclusively. However, weapons made of stone had a significant drawback - fragility. When copper, and later bronze, began to be used in the manufacture of weapons, this made it possible to create not only knives and daggers, as before, but also swords.

Finding area

The process of the appearance of bronze swords as a separate type of weapon was gradual, from a knife to a dagger, and then to the sword itself. Swords have slightly different shapes due to a number of factors. For example, both the army itself of a state and the time when they were used are important. The range of finds of bronze swords is quite wide: from China to Scandinavia.

In China, the production of swords from this metal begins around 1200 BC. e., during the reign of the Shang Dynasty. The technological culmination of the production of such weapons dates back to the end of the 3rd century BC. e., during the war with the Qin dynasty. During this period, rare technologies were used, such as metal casting, which had a high tin content. This made the edge softer and therefore easier to sharpen. Or with a low content, which gave the metal increased hardness. The use of diamond-shaped patterns, which were not aesthetic, but technological, making the blade reinforced along its entire length.

Bronze swords of China are unique due to technologies in which high-tin metal was periodically used (about 21%). The blade of such a blade was super-hard, but broke when bent too much. In other countries, swords were made with a low tin content (about 10%), which made the blade soft and bending rather than breaking when bent.

However, iron swords supplanted their bronze predecessors; this happened during the reign of the Han Dynasty. China has become the last territory, where bronze weapons were created.

Scythian weapons

Bronze swords of the Scythians have been known since the 8th century BC. e., they had a short length - from 35 to 45 cm. The shape of the sword is called “akinak”, and there are three versions about its origin. The first says that the shape of this sword was borrowed by the Scythians from the ancient Iranians (Persians, Medes). Those who adhere to the second version argue that the prototype of the Scythian sword was a weapon of the Kabardino-Pyatigorsk type, which was widespread in the 8th century BC. e. on the territory of the modern North Caucasus.

Scythian swords were short and primarily intended for close combat. The blade was sharpened on both sides and shaped like a highly elongated triangle. The cross-section of the blade itself could be rhombic or lenticular, in other words, the blacksmith himself chose the shape

The blade and handle were forged from one piece, and then the pommel and crosshair were riveted to it. Early examples had a butterfly-shaped crosshair, while later ones, dating back to the 4th century, were already triangular in shape.

The Scythians kept their bronze swords in wooden sheaths, which had buterols (the lower part of the sheath), which were protective and decorative. Currently, a large number of Scythian swords have been preserved, found during archaeological excavations in various mounds. Most of the specimens are preserved quite well, which indicates their high quality.

Roman weapons

Bronze legionnaires were very common at that time. The most famous is the sword gladius, or gladius, which later began to be made of iron. It is assumed that the ancient Romans borrowed it from the Pyrenees and then improved it.

The tip of this sword has a fairly wide sharpened edge, which had a good effect on cutting characteristics. These weapons were convenient to fight in dense Roman formations. However, the gladius also had disadvantages, for example, it could deliver slashing blows, but they did not cause serious damage.

Out of order, these weapons were very much inferior to German and Celtic blades, which had longer length. The Roman gladius reached a length of 45 to 50 cm. Subsequently, another sword was chosen for the Roman legionaries, which was called the “spata”. A small amount of this type of bronze sword has survived to this day, but their iron counterparts are quite sufficient.

The spatha had a length of 75 cm to 1 m, which made it not very convenient to use in close formation, but this was compensated for in a duel in free territory. It is believed that this type of sword was borrowed from the Germans, and later slightly modified.

The bronze swords of Roman legionnaires - both gladius and spatha - had their advantages, but were not universal. However, preference was given to the latter due to the fact that it could be used not only in foot combat, but also while sitting on a horse.

Swords of Ancient Greece

Bronze swords of the Greeks have a very long history. It originates in the 17th century BC. e. The Greeks had several types of swords different times, the most common and often depicted on vases and in sculpture is the xiphos. It appeared during the Aegean civilization around the 17th century BC. e. Xiphos was made of bronze, although later it began to be made of iron.

It was a double-edged straight sword, which reached approximately 60 cm in length, with a pronounced leaf-shaped tip, it had good chopping characteristics. Previously, xiphos was made with a blade up to 80 cm long, but for inexplicable reasons they decided to shorten it.

In addition to the Greeks, this sword was also used by the Spartans, but their blades reached a length of 50 cm. Xiphos was used by hoplites (heavy infantry) and Macedonian phalangites (light infantry). Later, these weapons became widespread among most of the barbarian tribes that inhabited the Apennine Peninsula.

The blade of this sword was forged immediately along with the hilt, and later a cross-shaped guard was added. had a good cutting and piercing effect, but due to its length its cutting characteristics were limited.

European weapons

In Europe, bronze swords have been quite widespread since the 18th century BC. e. One of the most famous swords is considered to be the Naue II type sword. It got its name thanks to the scientist Julius Naue, who was the first to describe in detail all the characteristics of this weapon. Naue II is also known as the tongue-hilted sword.

This type of weapon appeared in the 13th century BC. e. and was in service with the soldiers of Northern Italy. This sword was relevant until the beginning of the Iron Age, but it continued to be used for several more centuries, until approximately the 6th century BC. e.

Naue II reached a length of 60 to 85 cm and was found in the territories of what is now Sweden, Great Britain, Finland, Norway, Germany and France. For example, a specimen that was discovered during archaeological excavations near Brekby in Sweden in 1912 reached a length of about 65 cm and belonged to the period of the 18th-15th centuries BC. e.

The shape of the blade, which was typical for swords of those times, is a leaf-shaped formation. In the IX-VIII centuries BC. e. Swords with a blade shape called “carp tongue” were common.

This bronze sword had very good characteristics for this type of weapon. It had wide, double-edged edges, and the blades were parallel to each other and tapered towards the end of the blade. This sword had a thin edge, which allowed the warrior to inflict significant damage to the enemy.

Thanks to its reliability and good characteristics this sword spread widely across most of Europe, as confirmed by numerous finds.

Andronovo swords

Andronovo is the common name for various peoples who lived in the 17th-9th centuries BC. e. in the territories of modern Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Western Siberia and Southern Urals. Andronovo people are also considered Proto-Slavs. They were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and handicrafts. One of the most common crafts was working with metal (mining, smelting).

The Scythians partially borrowed some types of weapons from them. The bronze swords of Andronovo were distinguished by the high quality of the metal itself and its combat characteristics. The length of this weapon reached from 60 to 65 cm, and the blade itself had a diamond-shaped stiffener. The sharpening of such swords was double-edged, due to utilitarian considerations. In battle, the weapon became dull due to the softness of the metal, and in order to continue the battle and inflict significant damage on the enemy, the sword was simply turned in the hand and the battle continued again with a sharp weapon.

The Andronovites made scabbards of bronze swords from wood, covering their outer part with leather. The inside of the scabbard was sealed with animal fur, which contributed to the polishing of the blade. The sword had a guard that not only protected the warrior’s hand, but also securely held it in its sheath.

Types of swords

During the Bronze Age, there was a wide variety of types and types of swords. During their development, bronze swords went through three stages of development.

• The first is a bronze rapier of the 17th-11th centuries BC. e.
• The second is a leaf-shaped sword, with high piercing-cutting characteristics of the 11th-8th centuries BC. e.
• The third is a Hallstadt type sword from the 8th-4th centuries BC. e.

The identification of these stages is due to various specimens found during archaeological excavations in the territory of modern Europe, Greece and China, as well as their classification in catalogs of bladed weapons.

Bronze swords of antiquity, related to the rapier type, first appeared in Europe as logical development dagger or knife. This type of sword arose as an elongated modification of the dagger, which is explained by practical combat needs. This type of sword primarily ensured the infliction of significant damage to the enemy due to its prickly characteristics.

Such swords were most likely made individually for each warrior, as evidenced by the fact that the hilt was of different sizes and the finishing quality of the weapon itself varied significantly. These swords are a narrow bronze strip that has a stiffening rib in the middle.

Bronze rapiers were intended to use piercing blows, but they were also used as slashing weapons. This is evidenced by notches on the blade of specimens found in Denmark, Ireland and Crete.

Swords XI-VIII centuries BC. e.

The bronze rapier, several centuries later, was replaced by a leaf-shaped or phallic-shaped sword. If you look at the photos of bronze swords, their difference will become obvious. But they differed not only in shape, but also in characteristics. For example, leaf-shaped swords made it possible to inflict not only stab wounds, but also chopping and cutting blows.

Archaeological research carried out in various parts Europe and Asia, suggest that such swords were widespread in the territory from present-day Greece to China.

With the advent of swords of this type, from the 11th century BC. e., it can be observed that the quality of decoration of the sheath and handle is sharply reduced, but the level and characteristics of the blade are noticeably higher than those of its predecessors. And yet, due to the fact that this sword could both stab and cut, and therefore was strong and did not break after a blow, the quality of the blade was worse. This was due to the fact that a larger amount of tin was added to bronze.

After some time, the shank of the sword appears, which is located at the end of the handle. Its appearance allows you to deliver strong slashing blows while keeping the sword in your hand. This is how the transition to the next type of weapon begins. - to the sword of Hallstadt.

Swords of the 8th-4th centuries BC. e.

Swords changed due to objective reasons, for example, due to changes in fighting techniques. If earlier the fencing technique dominated, in which the main thing was to deliver an accurate piercing blow, then over time it gave way to the chopping technique. In the latter, it was important to deliver a strong blow with one of the sword blades, and the more force applied, the more significant the damage.

By the 7th century BC. e. chopping technology completely replaces piercing technology due to its simplicity and reliability. This is confirmed by bronze swords of the Hallstadt type, which are intended exclusively for slashing.

This type of sword received its name due to the area located in Austria, where it is believed that this weapon was first produced. One of the features of such a sword is the fact that these swords were made of both bronze and iron.

Hallstadt swords resemble leaf-shaped swords in shape, but they are noticeably narrower. The length of such a sword reaches about 83 cm, has a strong stiffening rib, which allows it not to deform when delivering chopping blows. This weapon allowed both infantrymen and horsemen to fight, as well as attack the enemy from a chariot.

The handle of the sword was crowned with a tang, which allowed the warrior to easily hold the sword after striking. This weapon was universal at one time and was highly valued.

Ceremonial swords

In the Bronze Age, there was another type of sword, which is not described above, since it cannot be attributed to any of the classifications. This is a sword with a single edge, whereas all other swords had sharpening on both sides. It is an extremely rare type of weapon, and to date only three copies have been found in one of the regions of Denmark. It is believed that this sword was not a combat sword, but a ceremonial one, but this is just a hypothesis.

conclusions

It can be concluded that bronze swords of antiquity were made using high level, taking into account the underdevelopment of the technological process. In addition to their combat purpose, many swords were works of art, thanks to the efforts of the craftsmen. Each type of sword for its time met all combat requirements, to one degree or another.

Naturally, the weapon was gradually improved, and efforts were made to minimize its shortcomings. Having gone through centuries of evolution, ancient bronze swords became best weapon of its era, until it gave way to the Iron Age and a new page began in the history of edged weapons.