Late mamluk military equipment

The discovery of this hoard of varied military and related materials has added hugely to our knowledge of late medieval Middle Eastern and especially Mamluk military technology. It even includes harness and costume. Until a few years ago, virtually the only arms and armour known to survive from this period, culture and region were the usually fine-quality, often highly decorated pieces of military equipment preserved in a handful of museums or private collections.

Such relics illuminated certain aspects of the arms and armour of the ruling and military élites of the late Mamluk Sultanate, but they rarely shed much light on the equipment used by ordinary or middle ranking soldiers. This unsatisfactory situation has been changed by the material excavated by the Syro-French Archaeological Mission in the Citadel of Damascus (under the supervision of Sophie Berthier and Edmond al-Ajji). Because it came from a properly identified, properly excavated context, the objects have also proved the existance of a previously almost unrecognized style of military equipment. This has in turn focussed attention upon other related finds, some of which were in danger of being dismissed as having neither historical interest nor antiquity. By excavating the material discussed in this book, Mme Berthier and her archaeological team have indeed « saved » other hoards, some already known, others yet to be uncovered.