Weapons of History - the Scimitar

The scimitar is one of the most used weapons in hollywood and a mainstay stereotype of all Middle Eastern warriors. In general, a scimitar can include any number of Middle Eastern sword designs such as the Indian talwar, Arabic saif, Persian shamsir, and the Turkish kilij.

There are a number of misconceptions people have about the scimitar. The first is the origin of the design. Many people are under the impression that the scimitar design came to be through a smooth evolutionary progression from the Egyptian khopesh because the khopesh stands out as the most notable curved sword design native to the Middle East. The khopesh was a sword that was two and a half to three feet long with a severe curve at the end. It's profile vaguely resembled that of a modern fish-hook. The blade was sharpened on the outside edge of the curve. The unique shape of the weapon enabled it to be used both to strike at lightly armored opponents, and to trap their weapon allowing a strike with another weapon held in the other hand. The truth about the scimitar's origin is that it's design evolved from the Mongol saber, which in turn traces it's origin back to the Chinese broadsword. The extreme curve of the scimitar is far more at home among the blades of the orient than among the typically straight blades of Middle Eastern origin.

The second major misconception regarding the scimitar is that it was carried by the Saracen warriors during the crusades. This misconception owes it's birth to Hollywood. The truth is that Saracen warriors who carried swords typically used a straight bladed design. The makers of the early Hollywood movies about the Crusades either didn't know the history of the weapon and took their weapons from a sampling of more modern Middle Eastern warriors, or they didn't feel that both sides in the battles should use similar weapons. Remember, in the early days of Hollywood, the most crucial factor in portraying a foreign person was the use of exotic accessories. Look at all the early movies where Native Americans were portrayed by white men, the only way to make it clear that they were different from the cowboys was by making their gear as different as possible. Similarly, a scimitar being an exotic, graceful blade very different from the stereotypical greatswords of Europe, was something else Hollywood could cling to as a way of differentiating the Middle Easterners from the Europeans. Hollywood tends to make it's own parallel version of history. What people don't know from studying history, they often learn through movies. That is why people of today usually have an image in their minds of the Middle Easterners of the Crusades swarming over the hills brandishing their curved blades.

The fact that the scimitar is not a terribly effective design for war is far outweighed by the popularity of it's aesthetics. The sword was difficult to wield, requiring great training to become accurate and effective. Also, it is not designed to stab, merely to chop and slice. This limits it's use against a heavily armored opponent. Regardless, thanks to Hollywood and the graceful design of the blade, itself, the scimitar is and will continue to be one of the most popular additions to any blade collection.

BladeMaster Steve is a staff writer at HeavenlySwords.com, your online retailer and importer of high quality medieval swords. For great deals on movie replica swords visit them today!