[Harry J. Fletcher]

I thought it would be nice to share with fellow members the display of my Reeve and Shamshir since these are replicas which could have been used in the crusades. I have contacted Mike at Albion and sent him some photos to see if Albion might be interested in making a Shamshir or Turkish sword to complement their medieval swords of the crusader era. Who knows, it was just a thought. Here are the photos which I had to take using TV quality otherwise they could not be sent electronically at least in my limited knowledge. I am still learning to use an electronic camera...!

Harry

[Neil Gagel]

Nice swords! I'd very much like to have a Reeve myself. I think the Shamshir in that form is from a slightly later period though. I seem to recall a lot of Abbasid swords being straight & double edged (not too different from their Western European counterparts).

[Harry J. Fletcher]

Neil, yes some swords were and I have seen illustrations of swords in moorish Spain such as you described but in the Holyland there was a mix of sword styles especially those coming from from Persia. Some books show curved blades and the scimitar with a wider toward the end type of blade too. No doubt that the Shamshir is not exact but not exactly inexact either. All depends on what period one wants to examine. The Talwar of the Mogals, the Mameluke of North Africa and others all seem to blend in together. I have read that the true Shamshir did not really come to Holy land until the 14th century but I doubt that and believe it was in use much earlier that especially in Perisa with whom the Turks were in constant contact.

This would make a nice topic for discussion and lots of input.

Regards,

Harry