The study of inscriptions on medieval weapons provides an interesting story about the mentality and beliefs of both the knights who carry these weapons and the craftsmen who made them. The mystical meaning of these inscriptions was important for the knights participating in the crusades and in numerous wars of that turbulent time. The sword was a symbol of justice, protection of Christian ideals, peace and tranquility of citizens. They prayed for them, took an oath, made vows. Sometimes at the top of the hilt were holy relics. Famous swords had their own names. The sword of King Arthur had the name Excalibur, had magical properties and could heal wounds.

"D NE QVIA VIM PATIOR RESPONDE PRO ME" was translated from Latin as follows - "Lord! So that I do not suffer resentment, answer for me." The first D stands for DOMINE for short. This inscription is derived from a quotation from the Bible Libri Isaiae Capitis XXXVIII versum XIV
DOMINE VIM PATIOR RESPONDE PRO ME
However, often the inscriptions were abbreviated, with the initial letters of religious sayings. Illiterate knights participating in the crusades memorized the words of prayers by the first letters engraved on their swords. In this way they could read a prayer before the battle. Let's say:
DIOLAGR reads: "D(e)I O(mnipotentis) LA(us) G(enitricis) R(edemptoris)". Translated from Latin, this means - "God almighty GLORY to the mother of the redeemer." Another composition INININININININ, despite the abundance of signs, is much simpler and means: I(esu) N(omine), I(esu) N(omine), I(esu) N(omine) and three more repetitions. The text is translated as "In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus..." and three more times. The cryptography SNEMENTS means: S(ankta) N(omin)E M(atris) E(nimo)N T(rinita)S - "Holy In the name of the Mother of God in the name of the Trinity".
IHS (Jesus Homini Salvator) or the letters S, O, X used separately (Salvator - Savior, Omnipotentes - Almighty, Xristus - Christ).

IN NOMINE DOMINI (In the name of the Lord)
SOLI DEO GLORIA (Only for the glory of God)
USSU TUO DOMINE (By thy command, Lord)
IN TI DOMINI (In your name, Lord)
IN DEO GLORIA (To the glory of God)
PRO DEO ET RELIGIONE VERA (For God and True Religion)
IVDICA DOMINE NOCENTES ME EXPUGNA IMPUGNATES ME, representing the first stanza of Psalm 34: “Judge, Lord, those who quarrel with me, fight those who fight with me”
FIDE SED CUI VIDE (Believe, but watch who you believe)
ELECTIS CANCIONATUR DEO GLORIA DATUR (The chosen ones are sung and praise the Lord)
PAX PARTA TUENDA (Equal peace must be preserved)
ROMANIS SACRIFICATUR RARAE GLORIA DATUR (The Romans offer a prayer service and glorify the Pope)

Later, when the sword came into use, as an indispensable attribute of a noble family, which was worn constantly, and which meant readiness to defend honor and dignity at any moment, another kind of inscription appeared:
VINCERE AUT MORI (Win or Die)
INTER ARMA SILENT LEGES (Among weapons, laws are silent)
FIDE, SED CUI VIDE (Believe, but look to whom)

Some Latin mottos can be classified as moral and ethical instructions. Let's say:
TEMERE NEC TIMIDE (Do not insult and do not be afraid),
VIM SUPERAT RATIO (Mind overcomes force)
HOCTANGI MORTI FERRUM (Touch with this iron is deadly)
RECTE FACIENDO NEMINEM TIMEAS (Fear nothing by doing the right thing)

There are inscriptions in national European languages, often having the meaning of mottos:
Ne te tire pas sans raison ne me remette point sans honneur (Don't strip me unnecessarily, don't sheath me without honor)
Honni soit qui mal y pense (Shame on him who thinks ill of it)
Dieu mon esperance, Iere pour that defence (God is my hope, the sword is my defense).

Often the inscriptions on weapons are mixed, reflecting the new ideology of the absolutist monarchy:
PRO GLORIA ET PATRIA (For Glory and Fatherland)
PRO DEO ET PATRIA (For God and Fatherland)
VIVAT REX (Long Live the King)

There were also frequent poetic inscriptions, characteristic only for these instruments of execution: Die hersen Steiiren Demvnheil
Jch ExeQuire Jhr Vrtheil
Wandem sunder wirt abgesagt das leben
Sowirt er mir vnter meine handt gegeben
(Hearts rule misfortune
I carry out your sentence
A sinner when his life is taken away
Then they hand it over to me.)

Other blade inscriptions:
"Cuando esta vivora pica, No hay remedio en la botica" (There is no cure for this viper in the pharmacy). An inscription on a navaja given to Stalin by the Spanish Republicans.

"Die villain by my hand." Inscription on a hunting dagger. Chrysostom, 1880s.

"Meine Ehre heißt Treue" (My honor is called loyalty). motto on SS daggers (Schutz Staffeln)

"Mort aux boches" (Death is dumb). Boche is a French derogatory/swear word for Germans. Inscriptions on the blades of the French resistance.
"Beware of false friends yourself, and I will save you from enemies." Latin inscription on the saber of the Polish king Jan Sobieski
"There is strength in truth" inscription on the saber of lame Timur
Melius non incipient, quam desinent -
Better not to start than to stop halfway
Serva me - servabo te - save me - save you
Mehr sein als scheinen - Be better than you seem
Oderint, dum metuant. - Let them hate - they were too afraid.
"Do not take out without need, do not invest without glory"
"Without faith, do not swear, if you swear, believe" is one of the many mottos on Cossack checkers.
“In hostem omnia licita.” - In relation to the enemy, everything is permitted. (lat.)
In omnia paratus - ready for anything
Ultima ratio - the last argument

1. ARABIC SIGNS ON RUSSIAN WEAPONS.

1.1. WHY DID THE RUSSIAN MASTER NIKITA DAVYDOV PUT ARABIC SAYINGS ON THE ROYAL HELMET?

Today, medieval weapons, covered with Arabic inscriptions, are considered to be UNCONDITIONALLY ORIENTAL. That is - made in the East, in Turkey or Persia. Where Islam has triumphed. It is believed, apparently, that once a master gunsmith placed a saying from the Koran on a damask blade he made, then he is a Muslim. And not just a Muslim, but necessarily a resident of the Muslim East, where there was a deep tradition of Arabic writing and Arabic culture. And Russian inept and uneducated gunsmiths could not even think of writing something in Arabic on the weapons they made. After all, according to the very spirit of the Scaligerian-Romanovian version of Russian history, in the 16th century there was a long-standing and deep enmity between Orthodox Russia and Muslim Turkey and Persia. Cultural and religious traditions are allegedly fundamentally different and even hostile to each other.

But, according to our reconstruction, until the very end of the 16th century, Rus', Osmania and Persia were part of a single Great = "Mongolian" Empire. Therefore, in all these countries there must have been a significant commonality of cultural traditions. In particular, the same techniques for making and decorating weapons. Despite the religious split between Orthodoxy and Islam that emerged in the 15th century, the state and military traditions of the 16th-17th centuries should have been very close.

Is there any confirmation of this? Yes, and very bright. Despite all the Romanov purge of Russian history. It turns out, for example, that until the very middle of the 17th century, that is, already in the era of the Romanovs, RUSSIAN MASTERS were still decorating weapons - even royal ones! - ARABIC SIGNS. And only in the second half of the 17th century they were apparently told that they could no longer do this. After that, Russian weapons with Arabic inscriptions disappeared. Some things could have been destroyed. However, the Russian TSAR weapons with Arabic inscriptions, covered with gold, diamonds and other jewels, made by the best craftsmen of the Armory, were preserved. Because of its great material value. At the same time, they decided to transfer most of the "Russian-Arab" weapons to the storerooms, see Appendix 5 in the book "Seven Wonders of the World". And today, when all this is forgotten, some of the "dangerous weapons" are on display in museums, photographs have been published. Although, in order to notice the ARABIC SIGNS ON RUSSIAN WEAPONS today, one must be especially careful. After all, explanatory plates about such "incorrect" inscriptions usually do not say anything. And the exhibits are often displayed in such a way that Arabic inscriptions are poorly visible.

We will use the fundamental publication "The State Armory", which contains photographs and descriptions of precious items stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin.

Here, for example, is the ceremonial damask helmet of the Moscow tsars, which bears the name "Ericho hat", that is, the Jericho hat, p.162. See fig.1.1. In the book "Biblical Rus'", chapter 5, we tell in detail where such a biblical name for this Russian helmet came from. Now let's take a closer look at the helmet itself.

"The steel surface of the helmet is smoothly polished and covered with the finest gold notch. In addition, the helmet is decorated with precious stones - diamonds, rubies and emeralds", p.173. It is known that the Yerichon cap was covered with a gold notch and jewels in 1621, that is, already under the Romanovs, by RUSSIAN MASTER Nikita Davydov from the city of Murom - CHIEF MASTER of the Moscow Armory, p.163.

On the surface of the helmet, one can clearly see the image of the royal crown with an eight-pointed Orthodox cross applied with a gold notch. On the nose arrow of the helmet there is an enamel image of the Archangel Michael. And around the tip of the helmet IS THE BELT OF ARABESQUES,. That is, ARABIC sayings enclosed in a frame. On the arabesque, which is visible in the photograph, "Va bashshir al-muminin" is written in canonical Arabic script, that is, "And please the believers", translated by T.G. Chernienko. This is a frequently used expression from the Qur'an. Thus, with the SAME GOLD NOTCH, NIKITA DAVYDOV MADE ON THE ERIKHON HAT BOTH ORTHODOX SYMBOLS - THE ROYAL CROWN WITH THE EIGHT-POINTED RUSSIAN CROSS, AND THE ARABIC EXPRESSIONS FROM THE QURAN! Moreover, there are no RUSSIAN inscriptions on this RUSSIAN helmet at all. RUSSIAN master Nikita Davydov wrote on it ONLY IN ARABIC.

It should be noted that the photo of the Jericho hat in the luxurious album was made "very competently". Most of the arabesque, as it were, was accidentally hit by a glare of light, making it difficult to read. The next arabesque is already in the shade and therefore is not visible at all. So it is very difficult to notice the ARABIC inscriptions on the RUSSIAN helmet. nevertheless, if attention is already paid to them, then it is not difficult to read the inscriptions.The inscription in one of the arabesques was read, see above, at our request, by an expert in Arabic T.G.Chernienko.It is interesting that in the 19th century this helmet was considered the helmet of Alexander Nevsky, see more about this below.

Another example from the Armory is the knife of Prince Andrey Staritsky, son of Ivan III, . The work of Russian masters of the early 16th century, pp.150-151. In this case, the knife is signed. There is a RUSSIAN inscription on it: "Prince Ondrey Ivanovich, summer 7021", that is, 1513.

But along the blade of the knife of Prince Andrey Staritsky, there is also an ARABIC INSCRIPTION, made in the same canonical Arabic handwriting, which decorated all the "eastern" weapons, . In this case, T.G. Chernienko failed to read the Arabic inscription, since the inscription lacks dots and dashes near the letters. Without such explanatory icons, each Arabic letter can mean several different sounds at once. Therefore, it is possible to read an Arabic text written in this way only if its content is approximately known. Otherwise, there are too many reading options that need to be sorted out.

However, judging by the arrangement of the letters and the use of their various forms (the shape of a letter in Arabic writing varies depending on its position at the beginning, middle or end of a word), this is a COMPLETELY MEANING TEXT. And not just a beautiful pattern of Arabic letters, "imitating an oriental inscription", as it is presented to us in the explanatory text of the edition, p.151. The authors of the explanatory comment clearly did not want the reader to think that the RUSSIAN gunsmiths of the 16th century made a knife with an ARABIC inscription for the son of the RUSSIAN Tsar Ivan III. We are well aware of this method used by historians to declare medieval inscriptions “inconvenient” to them “unreadable”. It often hides a simple unwillingness to read the inscription, which contradicts the Scaligerian-Romanov version of history. We talk about this in detail in the book "Empire".

By the way, until the inscription on the knife of Andrei Staritsky is read, there can be no certainty that it was made in Arabic. The fact is that writing, which is considered Arabic today, was also used for other languages. For example, for Turkish and Persian. Maybe for the Russian in the era of the XIV-XVI centuries?

So, it turns out that weapons with Arabic inscriptions were forged not only, and maybe not so much, in Turkey. As we can see, in Orthodox Rus', UP TO THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY, they were also very fond of decorating weapons with Arabic script. ARABIC sayings are decorated, for example, with the saber of Prince Mstislavsky, governor of Ivan the Terrible, p.207. One of the sayings says: "There will be strong defense in battle", p.207. On the saber, by the way, there is also a RUSSIAN inscription certifying the owner, p.207.

The photograph of a mirror armor made for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1670 by the RUSSIAN master Grigory Vyatkin, "one of the best gunsmiths of the second half of the century", p.173, catches the eye in the album. Cm. . The armor also includes a helmet. They clearly constituted a ONE royal outfit. Although the explanatory inscription separately says nothing about the helmet. The writing on it is amazing. THIS IS ARABIC SIGNS. AND THERE ARE MANY OF THEM, AND THEY ARE ALL EXPLICIT QUOTATIONS FROM THE QURAN. On the nose arrow of the helmet is written: "There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On the bottom of the helmet is a whole verse from the Koran, the second sura, 256 (255). All these inscriptions were translated for us by T.G. Chernienko. They are made in the canonical Arabic handwriting and their reading does not cause any difficulties.

"Eastern" - that is, apparently Russian, but equipped with Arabic inscriptions - sabers were worn by famous heroes of Russian history Minin and Pozharsky, p.151. At the same time, as we ourselves saw when visiting the Armory in June 1998, on Minin's saber the inscription was made NOT EVEN IN ARABIC LETTERS, BUT WITH SOME STRANGE ICONS. In the explanatory tablet, this saber is declared to be of "Egyptian origin". In fact, both sabers are most likely of Russian origin. A visit to the Armory Chamber showed that quite a lot of such "Russian-Arab" weapons were exhibited there. It is interesting to find out - what is stored in the storerooms? One gets the feeling that a very significant part of medieval Russian weapons is covered with "Arabic" or "illegible" inscriptions. This idea is confirmed by the unique materials given in Appendix 5 in the book "Seven Wonders of the World".

Why is it that today Russian weapons with Arabic inscriptions are always attributed to a non-Russian, usually Turkish or Persian, origin? And in those cases where the Russian work is quite obvious, it is believed that inexperienced and ignorant Russian masters copied wonderful Eastern and Western European models as apprentices. Like, not understanding the meaning of the Arabic inscriptions, they mechanically transferred them, allegedly as just "beautiful pictures", to the luxurious weapons of Russian tsars and commanders. And those proudly and ostentatiously wore Arabic sayings they did not understand. To the restrained skeptical smiles of enlightened Arabs and even more enlightened Western Europeans.

Most likely, this is not true. In the epoch of the 16th and even the 17th centuries, a large number of such Russian-Horde weapons with Arabic inscriptions were made, apparently, in Rus'-Horde. Which in the XV-XVI centuries was a single whole with Osmania=Atamania. Then a significant part of the Moscow, Tula, Ural and Russian weapons in general were slyly declared "Damascus", "Eastern" or "Western". As a result, they formed the belief that the Russians went in that era, mainly with foreign weapons. His own, they say, was very, very little. And bad. Although it is obvious that any strong military power WAS FIGHTING WITH ITS OWN WEAPONS. At the same time, they forgot that medieval Damascus is most likely T-Moscow, that is, the name of Moscow with the definite respectful article T.

They made weapons in Rus' with LATIN inscriptions. At least they used Latin letters. Such, for example, is the precious damask saber made in 1618 by the RUSSIAN master Ilya Prosvit, pp. 156-157. Along the entire blade there is an inscription in which LATIN letters are used. Unfortunately, we were unable to read it, since the photo in is not large enough to make out all the letters, and .

Usually we are told that all these "eastern" and "western" weapons were presented to the Russian tsars by the eastern and western rulers. We see that this is not so. At least in the cases we have described. As for the rest, then, of course, something could have been donated. Note, however, that on things that were obviously donated or brought from the east, according to the inventory of the Armory, as a rule, there are no inscriptions at all, see Appendix 5 in the book "Seven Wonders of the World". Or the inscriptions are Slavic or Greek. Such, for example, is the precious saadak, brought in 1656 for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by merchants from Istanbul, p.216. Or royal barmas made for Alexei Mikhailovich in Istanbul in the 50s of the 17th century, pp. 350-351. Or a precious feather donated by Sultan Murad to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1630, p.215. In all these cases, there are either no inscriptions at all, or they are made in Greek.

Today, historians convince us that ARABIC inscriptions are present on old RUSSIAN weapons solely because these weapons were donated to Russian tsars and Russian soldiers by foreigners who wrote in Arabic. As we now understand, the explanation is incorrect. Moreover, it turns out that the RUSSIAN TSARS THEIRSELF GIVED FOREIGNERS WEAPONS COVERED WITH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS. Here is one such striking example. Alexander Tereshchenko in 1853 reported at a meeting of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on the results of excavations in Sarai, "with an outline of the traces of the Desht-Kipchak Kingdom." And here's what he said.<<В особой комнате, называемой оружейною, помещаются довольно редкие и замечательные азиатские оружия, между ними ДАРСТВЕННЫЕ САБЛИ ОТ НАШИХ ЦАРСТВЕННЫХ ОСОБ. В числе вооружений, имеющих надписи татарские, персидские, арабские и куфические, сохранился клинок от шашки, которая была жалована одному из предков Джангера ЦАРЕМ МИХАИЛОМ ФЕОДОРОВИЧЕМ, со следующей ЗОЛОТОЮ НАДПИСЬЮ НА АРАБСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ: Бирахмети иляги тааля нахнул мелик эль азымъ ханъ ве эмиръ кебиръ Михаилъ Феодоровичъ мамалике кюль веляята Урусъ, т.е.: "Мы, Божиею Всемогущею милостию, Государь Верховный, Царь и владетель Великий Михаил Феодорович, обладатель всея державы русской">> , p.99-100. Please note that in Arabic in the title of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov there is the word KHAN here.

Thus, the Russian tsars, including even the first Romanovs, presented foreigners, or their subjects, with rich weapons, on which they demanded to apply GOLD - ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS.

Everything said above about Arabic inscriptions on Russian weapons does not apply only to the Kremlin Armory. Let's take another striking example. In the museum of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, the modern city of Alexandrov, in the Crucifixion Church-bell tower, the weapons of the RUSSIAN warrior are exhibited. We visited this museum in July 1998. Chain mail, shield, helmet, , are exhibited. An explanatory museum plate says that this is RUSSIAN weapons. In fact, the entire helmet is covered with images of outlandish animals, horsemen, birds, made in the Russian style, reminiscent of the well-known carvings on the walls of the white-stone cathedrals of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus'. The nose arrow of the helmet ends with an extension from above, turning into a four-pointed cross. Depicted as if the dome of the church, crowned with a cross. All this clearly indicates the Russian origin of the helmet. At the same time, a completely clear ARABIC INscription runs in a wide strip around the entire helmet. The explanatory tablet is gloomy silent about it. And of course, it does not give any translation of it. A shield hangs next to the helmet. And again, along the edge of the shield, there is an ARABIC INscription in a wide strip. The rest of the surface is covered with patterns. Before us is a medieval Russian shield! We have specially brought here several photographs of this shield taken by us in order to present as many fragments of the Arabic inscription on it as possible.

Moreover, here it cannot be said in any way that this is a MUSLIM weapon, in the modern sense of the word. The fact is that in Muslim art, starting, apparently, from the 18th century, images of people and animals are strictly prohibited. And on this Russian helmet, covered with Arabic inscriptions, there are images of animals, people, riders. Moreover, looking closely at, you can see a clear image of the AMAZON - a woman on a horse, brandishing a curved saber. See to the right of the helmet arrow, top.

Why don't the museum staff show medieval RUSSIAN helmets with PURE RUSSIAN inscriptions in the museum exposition? Maybe there are few such items among the bulk of the "Arabic-Russian" ones? What if we are really being shown TYPICAL RUSSIAN weaponry, MOST of which, as we see, is covered with "Arabic" or so-called "illegible" inscriptions? If so, that situation becomes even more interesting.

By the way, in May 2013 we again visited the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda Museum and were surprised to find that Russian shields and helmets with Arabic inscriptions were removed from the exhibition. The portrait of Ivan the Terrible with a forged inscription on it also disappeared. Perhaps all these most interesting items have been temporarily transferred to the archive in connection with the planned replacement of the exposition. But it is possible that after reading our books, some museum employees decided to remove dangerous exhibits "out of sight" about which our readers ask uncomfortable questions to museum workers (we know about many such cases). Since there is nothing to answer, the easiest way is to move "dangerous" shields, helmets, swords, portraits, etc. to closed storages. Where no one can see them.

Inscriptions on Russian weapons, which today are considered Arabic, we also find in the Moscow Museum-Reserve "Kolomenskoye". In the exhibition halls of the Front Gate, where we visited on June 23, 2001, two old Russian military helmets are on display,. ON BOTH - ARABIC AND ONLY ARABIC SIGNS! No Russian helmets with Russian inscriptions are displayed here. Both museum plaques dryly and evasively explain to us that these helmets, they say, were copied by Russian masters "from oriental models." They say that in Rus' they loved oriental patterns so much that they thoughtlessly copied, copied and copied ...

Let's go further. Here, for example, is the shishak (helmet) of Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky,. Entirely covered with Arabic inscriptions (more precisely, considered Arabic today)! Moreover, there are no Russian inscriptions at all. Cm. . This helmet, by the way, was also called the Jericho Hat. Recall that the Bible describes the capture of Jericho by the troops of Joshua as an exceptionally important event. See our book "Biblical Rus'" for details.

In Appendix 5 to the book "Seven Wonders of the World", we present the rarest material: an inventory of ancient Russian weapons stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin. From this inventory it absolutely unambiguously follows that the inscriptions on Russian weapons, which are considered Arabic today, are a TYPICAL PHENOMENON. And by no means some rare exceptions. There are many such weapons! But historians are silent about this, and when they are asked, they begin to suggest to us that inscriptions incomprehensible to them proudly flaunted in the arsenal of Russian soldiers.

Forgotten Jerusalem. Istanbul in the light of the New Chronology Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

5. Arabic inscriptions on old Russian weapons

Today, medieval weapons covered with Arabic inscriptions are considered to be, of course, ORIENTAL. That is - made in the East, in Turkey or Persia. Where Islam has triumphed. It is believed, apparently, that since the master gunsmith placed a saying from the Koran on a damask blade made by him, it means that he was a Muslim. And not just a Muslim, but necessarily a resident of the Muslim East, where there was a deep tradition of Arabic writing and Arabic culture. And Russian inept and uneducated gunsmiths could not even think of writing something in Arabic on the weapons they made. After all, according to the very spirit of the Scaligerian-Romanovian version of Russian history, in the 16th century there was a long-standing and deep enmity between Orthodox Russia and Muslim Turkey and Persia. Cultural and religious traditions were supposedly fundamentally different and even hostile to each other.

But, according to our reconstruction, until the very end of the 16th century, Rus', Turkey and Persia were part of a single Great = “Mongolian” Empire. Therefore, in all these countries there must have been a significant commonality of cultural traditions. In particular, the same techniques for making and decorating weapons. Despite the religious split between Orthodoxy and Islam that began in the 15th century, the state and military traditions of the 16th-17th centuries should have been very close.

Is there any confirmation of this? Yes, and very bright. Despite all the Romanov purge of Russian history. It turns out, for example, that until the very middle of the 17th century, that is, already in the era of the Romanovs, RUSSIAN MASTERS were still decorating weapons - even royal ones! - ARABIC SIGNS. And only in the second half of the 17th century they were apparently told that they could no longer do this. After that, Russian weapons with Arabic inscriptions disappeared. Some things could have been destroyed. However, the Russian TSAR weapons with Arabic inscriptions, covered with gold, diamonds and other jewels, made by the best craftsmen of the Armory, were preserved. Because of its great material value. At the same time, they decided to transfer most of the "Russian-Arab" weapons to the storerooms, see, vol. 7, Appendix. 2. And today, when all this is forgotten, some of the "dangerous weapons" are on display in museums, photographs have been published. Although, in order to notice the ARABIC SIGNS ON RUSSIAN WEAPONS today, one must be especially careful. After all, explanatory plates about such "incorrect" inscriptions usually do not say anything. And the exhibits are often displayed in such a way that Arabic inscriptions are poorly visible. Our attention was drawn to them by E.A. Eliseev.

We will use the fundamental publication "The State Armory", which contains photographs and descriptions of precious items stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin.

Here, for example, is the ceremonial damask helmet of the Moscow tsars, which was called the “Ericho hat”, that is, the Jericho hat, p. 162. See fig. 5.5. In our book “Biblical Rus'”, we have already explained in detail where, according to our reconstruction, such an openly biblical name for the helmets of Moscow tsars came from. Now let's take a closer look at the helmet itself.

Rice. 5.5. Ceremonial damask Russian military helmet, the so-called "Jericho Cap", which belonged to the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Stored in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Made by Russian, master Nikita Davydov, a native of the city of Murom, p. 163. Steel, gold, precious stones, pearls, forging, chasing, carving, notching, enamel. Around the tip of the helmet, Nikita Davydov inflicted ARABIC INscriptions. It turns out that in Orthodox Rus', UP TO THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY, they were very fond of decorating weapons with Arabic script. Therefore, it is wrong to think that Arabic inscriptions on medieval weapons necessarily mean their eastern, non-Russian origin. Most likely, such weapons were forged in Rus' in a large number of cases. Taken from, p. 162.

“Steel, the surface of the helmet is smoothly polished and covered with the finest gold notch. In addition, the helmet is decorated with precious stones - diamonds, rubies and emeralds ", p. 173. It is known that the Yerichon cap was covered with gold notch and jewelry in 1621, that is, already under the Romanovs, by RUSSIAN MASTER Nikita Davydov from the city of Murom - CHIEF MASTER of the Moscow Armory, p. 163.

On the surface of the helmet, one can clearly see the image of the royal crown with an eight-pointed Orthodox cross applied with a gold notch. On the nose arrow of the helmet there is an enamel image of the Archangel Michael. And around the tip of the helmet there is a belt of arabesques - that is, ARABIC sayings enclosed in frames. On the arabesque, which can be seen in the photograph, the inscription "Wa bashshir al-muminin" - "And please the believers" is placed in the canonical Arabic script. The translation of the inscription was made at our request by a deep connoisseur of the Arabic language and Arabic culture T.G. Chernienko. He noted that this is a frequently encountered EXPRESSION FROM THE QURAN. Thus, with the same gold notch, the Russian master Nikita Davydov applied both Orthodox symbols - royal crowns with an eight-pointed Russian cross, and ARABIC EXPRESSIONS FROM THE KORAN on the Jericho hat! At the same time, there are NO Russian inscriptions on this helmet - intended, we emphasize, not for anyone, but for the Orthodox Russian Tsar - AT ALL. The court master of the Armory, Nikita Davydov, wrote ONLY IN ARABIC on it.

It should be noted that the photograph of the Jericho hat in the luxurious album was made “very competently”. Most of the “seditious” (from the point of view of the ideas about Russian history instilled in us) arabesque, as if by accident, was hit by a glare of light. The next arabesque is already in shadow and therefore not visible at all. In general, the photo was taken at such an angle that the ARABIC inscriptions on it are very difficult to notice. And there is NOTHING about them in the explanatory text. However, if attention is drawn to them, then reading the Arabic inscription is not difficult. T.G. Chernienko easily read the inscription visible in the photograph. What is written in the arabesques on the other side of the helmet, we do not know.

Another example from the Armory Chamber is the knife of Prince Andrei Staritsky, son of Ivan III, fig. 5.6. The work of Russian masters of the early 16th century, p. 150–151. In this case, the knife is signed. It contains a RUSSIAN inscription certifying the owner: "Prince Ondrey Ivanovich, summer 7021". The year (summer) 7021 is given here according to the ecclesiastical era from Adam and translated into modern chronology means 1513 AD. e. That is, the 16th century.

Rice. 5.6. Fragment of the ARABIC inscription on the blade of the knife of the 15th century Russian prince Andrey Staritsky. Taken from, p. 150–151.

It is striking that along the blade of this knife there is also an ARABIC INscription, made in the same correct, canonical Arabic handwriting, which was used to decorate the “real oriental” weapon, fig. 5.6. This Arabic inscription is to be read by T.G. Chernienko failed, because it lacks explanatory signs, without which each Arabic letter can mean several sounds at once. So sometimes they wrote, but you can read such a text only if its content is approximately known. Otherwise, there will be too many reading options.

Nevertheless, judging by the arrangement of letters in the inscription on Staritsky's knife and the use of their various forms - and the form of a letter in Arabic writing changes depending on its position at the beginning, middle or end of a word - a COMPLETELY MEANING TEXT is written here. And not just a beautiful pattern of Arabic letters, "imitating the oriental inscription", as the publication's commentators are trying to inspire us, p. 151. The authors of the explanations obviously did not want the reader to think that the RUSSIAN gunsmiths of the 16th century made a knife with an ARABIC inscription for Ivan III's son Andrey Staritsky. This technique of historians to declare medieval inscriptions “uncomfortable” to them “unreadable”, “patterns-imitations”, etc. is well known to us. It often hides a simple UNWANTING to read the inscription, which contradicts the Scaligerian-Romanov version of history. We talk about this in detail in our books "New Chronology of Rus'", "Empire" and "Biblical Rus'".

By the way, until the inscription on the knife of Andrei Staritsky is read, there can be no certainty that it was made in Arabic. The fact is that writing, which is considered Arabic today, was also used for other languages. For example, for Turkish and Persian. And also for Russian - and even in the 17th century (see below).

So, it turns out that weapons with Arabic inscriptions were forged not only - and maybe even not so much - in Turkey, but also in Russia. As we can see, in Orthodox Rus', UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE 17TH CENTURY, they were very fond of decorating their weapons with Arabic script.

The photograph of a mirror armor made for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1670 by the RUSSIAN master Grigory Vyatkin, “one of the best gunsmiths of the second half of the century”, is striking in the album, p. 173. See fig. 5.7.

Rice. 5.7. Mirror armor made for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1670 by Russian craftsman Grigory Vyatkin. Covered with ARABIC inscriptions. Taken from, p. 173.

The armor also includes a helmet. They clearly constituted a ONE royal outfit. Although the explanatory inscription separately says nothing about the helmet. The writing on it is amazing. These are ARABIC inscriptions. AND THERE ARE MANY OF THEM, AND THEY ARE ALL EXPLICIT QUOTATIONS FROM THE QURAN. On the nose arrow of the helmet is written: "There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." On the bottom of the helmet is a whole verse from the Koran, the second sura, 256 (255). All these inscriptions were translated for us by T.G. Chernienko. They are made in the canonical Arabic handwriting and their reading does not cause any difficulties. "Eastern", - that is, apparently Russian, but equipped with Arabic inscriptions - sabers were worn by the famous heroes of Russian history Minin and Pozharsky, p. 151. At the same time, as we ourselves saw when visiting the Armory in June 1998, on Minin's saber the inscription was made NOT EVEN IN ARABIC LETTERS, BUT IN SOME STRANGE ICONS. In the explanatory tablet, this saber is declared to be of "Egyptian origin". In fact, both sabers are most likely of Russian origin. A visit to the Armory showed that quite a lot of such "Russian-Arab" weapons were exhibited there. It would be interesting to find out - what is stored in the storerooms?

One gets the feeling that a very significant part of medieval Russian weapons was covered with "Arabic" or "illegible" inscriptions. This idea is fully confirmed by a detailed study carried out by E.A. Eliseev. He completely worked out the entire section on melee weapons in the full handwritten description of the Armory, stored in the Library of the Armory. The results of his research are set out in Appendix 3 of our Reconstruction of World History, Book 2 (Studies 1999-2000), p. 515–546. It turned out that the old Russian sabers were in most cases indistinguishable from Turkish ones and often provided with Arabic inscriptions. There are almost no Russian inscriptions on old Russian sabers. Although the saber has always been considered the original Russian weapon and was forged in Rus' in large quantities,. All types of troops in Russia in the 16th - early 17th centuries were armed with a saber,.

Why is it that today Russian weapons with Arabic inscriptions are always attributed to a non-Russian, usually Turkish or Persian, origin? In those cases where Russian work is obvious, they try to convince us that ignorant Russian masters senselessly copied Eastern or Western European models. Say, not understanding the meaning of the Arabic inscriptions, the Russians mechanically transferred them, allegedly as just “beautiful pictures”, to the weapons of their kings and commanders. And those proudly and ostentatiously wore incomprehensible or even hostile Arabic sayings. Under the restrained and understanding smiles of enlightened Arabs and even more enlightened Western Europeans.

Most likely, this is not true. In the epoch of the 16th and even the 17th centuries, a large number of such Russian-Horde weapons with Arabic inscriptions were obviously made in Rus'. Which in the XV-XVI centuries was a single whole with the Ottoman-Ataman Port. Then a significant part of the Moscow, Tula, Ural and Russian weapons in general was slyly declared "Damascus", "Eastern" or "Western". As a result, they formed the belief that the Russians in that era went mostly with foreign weapons. His own, they say, was very, very little. And bad. Although it is clear that any strong military power MUST FIGHT WITH ITS OWN WEAPONS. Otherwise, it will turn into a dependent state.

Weapons were also made in Rus' with LATIN inscriptions. At least they used LATIN letters. So, for example, a precious damask saber, made in 1618 by the RUSSIAN master Ilya Prosvit, p. 156–157. Along the entire blade there is an inscription in which LATIN letters are used.

Usually we are told that all these "Eastern" and "Western" weapons were presented to the Russian tsars by Eastern and Western rulers. We see that this is not so. At least in the cases we have described. As for other cases, then, of course, something could have been donated. Let us note, however, that, according to the inventory of the Armory Chamber, there are usually no inscriptions at all on things that were obviously donated or brought from the east, see the above-mentioned work by E.A. Eliseeva. Or the inscriptions are Slavic or Greek. Such, for example, are the precious saadaq, fig. 5.8, brought in 1656 for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by merchants from Istanbul, p. 216. Or royal barms, fig. 5.9, made for Alexei Mikhailovich in Istanbul in the 50s of the 17th century, p. 350–351. Or a precious feather, fig. 5.10, presented by Sultan Murad to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1630, p. 215.

Rice. 5.8. Precious saadaq, brought in 1656 for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by merchants from Istanbul. Taken from, p. 216.

Rice. 5.9. Royal barmes made for Alexei Mikhailovich in Istanbul in the 50s of the 17th century. Taken from, p. 350–351.

Rice. 5.10. A precious feather given by Sultan Murad to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in 1630. Taken from, p. 215.

In all these cases, there are either no inscriptions at all, or they are made in Greek. Moreover, it turns out that the RUSSIAN TSARS THEIRSELF GIVED FOREIGNERS WEAPONS COVERED WITH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS. Here is one such striking example. Alexander Tereshchenko in 1853 reported at a meeting of the Imperial Academy of Sciences on the results of excavations in Sarai, "with an outline of the traces of the Desht-Kipchak Kingdom." And here's what he said. “In a special room, called the armory, rather rare and wonderful Asian weapons are placed, between them are DONATION SABERS FROM OUR ROYAL PERSONS. Among the weapons that have the inscriptions of the Tatar, Persian, Arab and Kufic, the blade was preserved from the checker, which was complained to one of the ancestors of Dzhanger Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, with the next gold inscription in the Arabic: Birameti Ilyaga Taaly was naked Melik El Emir Kubir Mikhail Feodorovich mamalek kul velayat Urus, i.e.: “We, by God’s Almighty mercy, are the Supreme Sovereign, Tsar and ruler Great Mikhail Feodorovich, the owner of all the Russian power” ”, p. 99–100. Please note that in Arabic in the title of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov there is the word KHAN here.

Thus, the Russian tsars, including even the early Romanovs, gave foreigners, or their subjects, rich weapons inscribed with ARABIC INscriptions.

Everything said above about Arabic inscriptions on Russian weapons does not apply only to the Kremlin Armory. Let's take another example. In the Museum of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda (the modern city of Aleksandrov, Moscow Region), in the Crucifixion Church-bell tower, the weapons of the RUSSIAN warrior are exhibited. We visited this museum in July 1998. There were exhibited chain mail, a shield and a helmet of a Russian warrior, fig. 5.11-5.14. An explanatory museum plate says that this is RUSSIAN weapons. By the way, the helmet is covered with images of outlandish animals, horsemen and birds, made in the Russian style. It resembles the carving of the white-stone cathedrals of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. The nose arrow of the helmet from above ends with an extension in the form of a church dome topped with a cross. All this clearly indicates the Russian origin of the helmet. At the same time, a clear ARABIC INscription goes around this helmet. The explanatory tablet is gloomy silent about it. And of course, it does not give any translation. A shield hangs next to the helmet. And again, along the edge of the shield, there is an ARABIC INscription in a wide strip. The rest of the surface is covered with patterns. And this is an old Russian shield! Moreover, in this case, it is difficult for historians to say that these are MUSLIM weapons, in the modern sense of the word, also for the following reason. The fact is that in Muslim art, starting, apparently, from the 18th century, images of people and animals are strictly prohibited. And on this Russian helmet, covered with Arabic inscriptions, there are images of animals, people, riders. Moreover, looking closer, you can see to the right of the arrow of the helmet the image of the AMAZON - a woman on a horse, brandishing a curved saber.

Rice. 5.11. Russian weapons: chain mail, helmet, shield. The helmet and shield are thickly covered with ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS. Museum of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.

Rice. 5.12. Russian helmet with Arabic inscriptions and an image of an equestrian Amazon. Museum of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.

Rice. 5.13. Russian shield with Arabic inscriptions. Museum of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.

Rice. 5.14. An enlarged fragment of an Arabic inscription on a Russian shield. Museum of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.

Why don't the museum staff show medieval RUSSIAN helmets with PURE RUSSIAN inscriptions in the museum exposition? Perhaps there are very few such items among the bulk of the "Arabic-Russian"? What if we are really being shown TYPICAL RUSSIAN weaponry, MOST of which, as we can see, is covered with “Arabic” or so-called “illegible” inscriptions? If so, the situation becomes even more interesting.

The same thing - in the Moscow Museum-Reserve "Kolomenskoye". In the exhibition halls of the Front Gate, where we visited on June 23, 2001, two old Russian military helmets are on display. ON BOTH - ARABIC AND ONLY ARABIC SIGNS! No Russian helmets with Russian inscriptions are displayed here. Both museum plaques dryly explain to us that these helmets were copied by Russian craftsmen "from oriental models." Like, in Rus' they loved oriental patterns so much that they copied, copied and copied ...

As we were "explained" in the Armory Chamber in 1998, "Arab" blades for Russian weapons were allegedly made by Arabs in distant Arabia and Spain. Later sometimes in Turkey. But the handles for swords and sabers were usually attached already in Rus', that is, our masters. As a result, supposedly “combined swords” were obtained: the hilts were Russian, and the blades were overseas, “Arab”. They didn’t have their own, or they did it very, very poorly. However, this "theory" is refuted, for example, by the following striking fact. As we have already said, the saber of F.I. Mstislavsky, about which historians write as follows: “F.I. Mstislavsky also owned a large saber, as evidenced by the RUSSIAN INscription ON THE BLADE HEAD. On a wide damask blade, ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS are incised with gold. One of them reads: “There will be a strong defense in battle” , p. 207.

But this comment doesn't really paint the full picture. Historians evade here from an accurate description of the inscription on the crown of the blade. We saw this sword at the Armory in 1998. It turns out that the Russian inscription on the tulle of the blade is not just written, but poured IN METAL. That is, SHE WAS FORGED OR CASTED AT THE VERY MOMENT OF MANUFACTURING THE BLADE. Blacksmiths at the red-hot forge. As we are assured, "distant overseas Arabs." It is unlikely that this was the case. Most likely, the Russian name of the Russian governor Mstislavsky was cast in Russian letters by Russian gunsmiths in Russian workshops. Russian craftsmen also wrote an Arabic inscription on the blade. PERFECTLY UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEY WRITE. Namely: "There will be a strong defense in battle."

Part of the "Arab" weapons, apparently, was also made in Turkey-Atamania, which until the 16th century was an integral part of Rus'-Horde.

On fig. 5.15 shows the helmet of Ivan the Terrible, stored in the Royal Museum in Stockholm, vol. 1, p. 131. It contains BOTH RUSSIAN AND ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS. Moreover, the Arabic inscription is written in larger letters and is located on the helmet above the Russian inscription, that is, from above. It is not clear why historians, talking about the helmet of Ivan the Terrible in the book, cited separately the entire Russian inscription going around the helmet along the rim, but for some reason did not reproduce the ARABIC inscription.

Rice. 5.15. Helmet of Ivan the Terrible. XVI century. Royal Museum in Stockholm. Along the rim of the helmet is a wide Arabic inscription, and under it in smaller letters - Russian. Taken from, vol. 1, p. 131.

So, for some reason, inscriptions that today are considered Arabic prevailed on Russian medieval weapons. It is worth paying attention to this once, as right there you will begin to come across such examples literally at every step. This amazing fact does not fit into the usual version of the Scaligerian-Romanov history. It alone is enough to understand that the history of Rus' in the pre-Roman era was completely different from what it is presented to us today.

From the book Empire - I [with illustrations] author

5. Russian-Tatar inscriptions and allegedly “meaningless inscriptions” on the ancient coins of the Moscow principality I. G. Spassky informs us: On one side of the first money of the Moscow principality, the name of Dmitry Donskoy is written in Russian, but on the other side there is a Tatar

From the book Empire - II [with illustrations] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

4. 4. Arabic inscriptions in the pyramids So, we hypothesized that the large pyramids were created in the XIV-XVI centuries AD. But then a natural question arises. After all, this is already the time when Arab culture arose in northern Africa. Are there Arabic inscriptions in the pyramids? Their absence

author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

Chapter 6 Bilingualism in Rus' (Russian and Turkic) Arabic language and Arabic letters in Russian usage until XVII

From the book The Great Trouble. End of Empire author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

From the book The Great Trouble. End of Empire author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

6. Russian-Tatar inscriptions and supposedly “meaningless inscriptions” on the ancient coins of the Moscow Principality I.G. Spassky reports the following: “On one side of the FIRST MONEY OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF MOSCOW, the name of Dmitry Donskoy is written IN RUSSIAN, but on the other side is

From the book Reconstruction of True History author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

From the book The First Wonder of the World. How and why were the Egyptian pyramids built? author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

7. Arabic Inscriptions on the Pyramids In 1996, in our book The Empire [IMP], we first suggested that the great Egyptian pyramids were built in the 14th-15th centuries CE. e. But then a natural question arises: are there medieval inscriptions left by them in the pyramids?

From the book New Chronology of Egypt - II [with illustrations] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

10.2. Arabic Inscriptions on the Pyramids In our book The Empire [IMP], we hypothesized that the great Egyptian pyramids were built in the 14th-16th centuries AD. But then a natural question arises. Are there Arabic or similar inscriptions in the pyramids? Their absence for the Egyptian

author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

1. Arabic inscriptions on Russian weapons

From the book Book 2. The Secret of Russian History [New Chronology of Rus'. Tatar and Arabic languages ​​in Rus'. Yaroslavl as Veliky Novgorod. ancient english history author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

20. What the inscriptions on the old Russian “Mongolian” coat of arms actually meant How the Romanovs tried to hide it 20.1. What do we know about the history of the Russian state emblem?

From the book Reconstruction of True History author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

8. Arabic inscriptions on Russian weapons Until the end of the 16th century, Rus', Osmania and Persia were part of a single Horde Empire. Therefore, in these countries there must have been a common cultural tradition. In particular, the same techniques for making and decorating weapons. Despite

From the book Rus and Rome. Revolt of the Reformation. Moscow is the Jerusalem of the Old Testament. Who is King Solomon? author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

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4.4. Arabic inscriptions in the pyramids So, we hypothesized that the large pyramids were created in the XIV-XVI centuries AD. e. But then a natural question arises. After all, this is already the time when the culture that today is called Arabic began to take shape in northern Africa. Are there inscriptions in

From the book Book 1. Empire [Slavic conquest of the world. Europe. China. Japan. Rus' as a medieval metropolis of the Great Empire] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

6. Russian-Tatar inscriptions and supposedly “meaningless inscriptions” on the ancient coins of the Moscow Principality I.G. Spassky reports the following. “On one side of the FIRST MONEY OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF MOSCOW, the name of Dmitry Donskoy is written IN RUSSIAN, but on the other side is the TATAR

From the book History of the Mongals, called by us Tatars author Carpini Giovanni Plano

§II. On Weapons I. At the very least, everyone should have this weapon: two or three bows, or at least one good one, and three large quivers full of arrows, one ax and ropes to draw tools. The rich have swords that are sharp at the end, cutting only on one side and

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12. Evidence about the Et-Russian, simply Russian, origin of Servius Tullius, that is, Andronicus-Christ. Stormy disputes of historians on this subject Caelius Vivenna and John the Baptist As we have just said, in the era of the XIV-XVI centuries, many believed that Tsar Servius Tullius , he is

I've been shackled
betray the fighter
In the first fight.

I was sent
By evil gold
To the extreme world.

R. Kipling Runes on Wieland's sword Per. M. Gasparova

The finds of runic inscriptions on weapons demonstrate to us, probably, the most powerful form of human influence on the world around him. The runes were, undoubtedly, the most effective magical tool, while the weapon acted as the most authoritative and indisputable argument in the sphere of material life. Both, from the point of view of the man of the archaic era, most effectively transformed reality, changing it in the required direction. The combination of two such effective weapons into a single complex, of course, should have significantly increased the effectiveness of the steps taken. In this context, it is interesting to study those patterns that can be distinguished when analyzing the fund of runic monuments associated with weapons.

It should be noted that the number of inscriptions on weapons known to date is relatively small and, on the whole, makes up a relatively small percentage of the total number of runic monuments, and their completely disproportionate distribution over epochs is striking. So, if from the era of the older runes and the transitional period that interests us, it has come down to us at least 26 inscriptions on weapons, then the period of younger runic writing (approximately from 700 to 1300 d.) has preserved only about two dozen objects of this kind. Recall that a little more than 250 , while the number of epigraphic monuments of the Viking Age and the Middle Ages is estimated at almost 6000 units. As a result, we get very significant numbers: older runic the inscriptions on the weapons are approximately 10 % of the total number of finds, while younger runic- only about 0,0035 % .

At the same time, in no way can such a difference be attributed to any differences in the state of the source fund - we have, as you know, a huge number of finds of weapons from the Viking Age, immeasurably exceeding the total number of similar artifacts of the times Great Migration or other eras. That is, the presented ratio was obtained on the basis of an analysis of a completely correct database and reflects a certain pattern that really existed and was reflected in the sources. Of course, the fund of inscriptions is increasing, and over time, as in any other area of ​​runic epigraphy, certain changes in the statistical order occur, but such a colossal gap in numbers, of course, will no longer undergo significant adjustment.

The ratio of finds within this group is interesting. 23 runic inscriptions from 26 applied to offensive weapons. Among them 14 copies swords and their structural elements - pommel, scabbard lining, etc., 8 tips copies And darts, 1 shaft arrows. At the same time, only 3 finds are associated with items of defensive weapons - 2 umbons from shields and helmet.

In his study on the problem of runic inscriptions on weapons, TO.Duvel highlights four groups finds differentiated by him according to chronological and geographical features. first group make up findings from Marshes of South Jutland and North Germany.Second block form inscriptions on spearheads and darts related to the period III c,.n.uh. Third group includes Anglo-Saxon inscriptions on items of weapons dated VI in.n.uh. Finally, in fourth group the most recent inscriptions related to 7th century. and found outside the Scandinavian Peninsula, in continental Europe. Such a classification is not ideal, however, it allows us to draw attention to certain patterns that are present in this fund of finds. Conspicuous, for example, the universal nature of piercing and throwing weapons- inscriptions on spears and darts are present in all chronological sub-periods of the considered period of time. At the same time, items of defensive weapons belong mainly to the earliest eras of runic writing and are not represented among the later finds. We also note that, with the rarest exception (except for the inscription from Evre Stabu), finds of weapons are associated with continental Europe,British Isles or Denmark but not with Scandinavian peninsula. This emphasizes the rather mobile nature of the way of life that was inherent in the Germans during the period of migrations and even in the era of the early barbarian kingdoms, although, of course, it also indicates a greater population density in the non-Scandinavian regions of the Germanic world, as well as the widespread use of runic literacy here. and activity of the use of runes in military use.

So, the most local and at the same time the longest existing group is formed by inscriptions on weapons from swamps of the borderland of Germany and Denmark. The circumstances of their discovery do not always give an answer to the question of how exactly this or that object got into the swamp. Attribute all these objects a priori to results of sacrifices hardly possible, if only because we cannot completely exclude other possible circumstances as a result of which the object ended up in the depths of the swamp. For example, the owner could drop it and lose it while crossing the swamp, or drown with it, throw a spear at the enemy, who, in turn, could no longer get out to a dry place, etc. That is, we have no reason to see in every find a sacrifice to the gods, regardless of what the inscription itself is.

Bog finds date from about 200 AD. up to and including the 6th century. The most indicative in this group are the following inscriptions:

1. The pommel of the scabbard of the sword from Thorsberg refers to the earliest objects with runic signs - it bears two inscriptions: owlpupewar And niwajemariR. The first of the inscriptions is considered by experts as a distorted w(u)lpupewaR- identification of weapon ownership (with the suffix -aR): "radiant, magnificent vigilante". Second part - "well known"(glorious);

2. Ko second half of the 3rd century. belongs to the lining of the scabbard of the sword from Vimose V Denmark. The inscription consists of two parts: mariha iala And makija and reads like this: "this sword belongs to me" or alternatively, "this sword belongs to Maru (owner's name)";

3. Also in Vimose a silver scabbard with gilt trim was found. The name is written on it in runes. awns- probably, Awings;

4. From the swamp to Illerup going on the handle of the shield with the inscription swarda. It belongs to the earliest 200 g. - and is interpreted as one of the variants of the German word "sword" or adjective swarta - "black";

5. From the famous Nyudam swamp, famous for the discovery of one of the well-preserved ships of the migration era, there is an arrow shaft dating from the interval III-V c.c. with an inscription lua-possibly corrupted by a typical spell alu;

6. The inscription on a bronze fragment of an umbon from Illerup - aisgRh. Here is a list of translations proposed by individual researchers: Bygge- "Sigi owns this shield";Olsen - "Get Victory, Shield";Greenberger - "I win" ;Noreen - "Eisger owns it";Holthausen - "Sigger owns me"; Krause - "Aisig. Hagel"(two words - "furious" And "corruption");Gutenbrunner - "Remain unscathed from the storm of spears"(kenning); Antonsen - "Diverting hail"(spears or arrows); Eric Moltke spoke in favor of the meaninglessness (illegibility) of the inscription. Such a varied reading, which nevertheless retains a stable semantic core, makes it possible to attribute this inscription to one of the two typical formalized classes of inscriptions;

7. From the swamp kragehul five fragments of spearheads occur in Denmark, one of which bears the inscription: EkerilaR asugisalas muha haite gagaga ginuga he lija hagalawijubig. In this rather long text, the first few words are clearly and unambiguously read: I am Eryl Asgisl... This is followed by more or less standardized initiations and magical formulas, including the well-known gagaga.

In addition, among the swamp finds there is a very revealing category. On the umbone of the shield from Thorsberg there is a Roman inscription - AEL(IUS) AELIANUS. There are other Roman names found in Illerup, Nydam, Thorsberg and Wimose.

Another group of runic inscriptions is represented by similar finds throwing and piercing spears. The earliest of these, attributed to second half of II century., which is also considered the earliest runic inscription, is a leaf-shaped tip from Evre Stabu in Norway, originating from a burial complex consisting of two male and two female burns. One of the most popular interpretations of the inscription raunijaR - "depriving the enemy of courage". From Damsdorf, V Central Brandenburg, occurs dated mid 3rd century. inscription on the tip of the spear: ranja ("in motion"?), which is attributed to those who were here at that time Burgundians. The only one of the arrowheads not found in the burial is the Kovel one bearing the inscription tilarids - "aimed at a goal".

In the same group, finds from Mos (Gotland) - sioag or gaois(translation unclear, possibly "roaring, sounding"), as well as a Polish find from the town Rozvadov - ...krlus(Maybe, "I, Herul"?).

WITH british isles, mainly from burials, there are several finds. IN kente found five parts of the sword VI in. and one spearhead 7th century. - including found:

1. In Sarre- unreadable inscription on the pommel of the sword;

2. In Ash Gilton- also tops: eic sigimer nemde - "Sigimer called me", on the other side - sigi mci ah("Sigi owns me");

3. Scabbard lining Chessel Down Friedhof on Isle of Wight: aeco so eri ("increasing suffering");

4. Two silver gilded finials with "z" runes from Ash Gilton sometimes regarded as a dedication Toru;

5. Faversham. On the pommel of the sword the rune of Tyr is twice inscribed. This case, from the point of view of the information we have, should be recognized as a classic - this corresponds to one of the extremely few references in Edde about the true magical meaning and use of runes;

6. The tip of the spear from Holborough- peculiar binderuna: Tyr rune on a rectangular base resembling the Cyrillic letter P;

7. Finally, scramasax from Thames. "Non-canonical" option Anglo-Saxon Futhark, padded, probably with the owner's name: beagnop.

A certain inexpressiveness of Anglo-Saxon inscriptions is explained by the fact that the Germanic linguistic and magical sub-base of runic writing in England quickly fell into decay.

Continental inscriptions 7th century. rare. From more than 50 found, for example, in Germany, - only five made on weapons. Of these, relatively picky four. On a silver plate Leibenau, apparently, the name of the owner is present - Rauzvi, the rest of the signs are debatable. Scramasax from Heilfingen bears the inscription ikxrxkwiwixu. It is only clear that at the beginning there is a pronoun ik - "I".

spearhead from Wurmlingen-inscription idorih. Reading options - "I make powerful and respected", proper name or dedication Toru (Top = Dor?). It is possible that a proper name is also available in the Saxon from Steindorf:Husibald...

The Viking Age brought to us only three(!) inscriptions on weapons are very few and inscriptions of the subsequent time ( XII-XIII centuries). Suffice it to say that from 3 thousands of axes found in Norway, only one contains a runic inscription. In addition to unreadable inscriptions ( afke, Uppland), there are fairly standardized two-part ones: rani: aapnuikur And butfus: faii. (“(G)rani wields this dart. Botfos cut out ") (Svenskens, Gotland) or audmundr gerdi mik. asleikr a mik (“Audmund made me. Asleik owns me") (Korsøygården, Norway). About 1200 g. dated umbon with inscription gunnar gerdi mik. helgi a mik("Gunnar made me, Helgi owns me"). IN Greenmount(Ireland) found an inscription containing the nickname of the owner: tomnalselshofopasoerpeta("Dufnal Sea Dog Head wields this sword"). Finally, towards the very end of the period (end 13th century.) refers to an inscription of a typically Christian nature: "Ave Maria..."

In total, more than two dozen younger runic inscriptions on weapons are known, which, as mentioned above, is an immeasurably smaller proportion of the total number than in the case of older runic inscriptions. The conclusions that follow directly from the above facts, on the whole, boil down to the following.

Undoubtedly, the high role that was assigned to runic inscriptions or individual signs applied to weapons. These symbols were given a meaning far beyond the usual information broadcast. At the same time, a clear difference between the two eras of runic writing is clearly perceptible. In the Viking Age, when runic epigraphy came close to the state of refined alphabetic writing, and any supernatural content of runes began to be considered as unconditionally secondary, the nature of the inscriptions finally changed. Along with the runes that arise at the very end of the active existence of formula of a typical Christian prayer call, organically replacing the pagan appeal to Ases, most of the inscriptions on weapons in the Viking Age gravitate towards an extremely stable formula: “The name made me. Someone owns me" with minor variations. Sometimes this inscription is reduced, leaving only the name of the owner.

In one case, it can be assumed that the owner and the person who carved the runes (of course, the manufacturer of the weapon) are different people. However, the resulting formula is remarkably stable. Moreover, in fact, in a somewhat abbreviated form, it reproduces the core of the formula characteristic of the most massive type of monuments of the younger runic epigraphy - rune stones. It is also very characteristic for them to indicate at least two characters - the author of the image and the customer, or the customer and the person commemorated by installing the stone. The reduction of the formula and its extreme laconicism were dictated by the nature of the object - the bearer of the inscription, which did not leave such space as the surface of a stone. Nevertheless, the formation of a very formalized and extremely stable speech block testifies to the final fixation in the mind not only of the tradition of inscribing runic inscriptions, but also of stereotyped formulations, in the framework of which runic writing was mainly thought and implemented.

Considering the very significant changes that took place in the futhark during second half of I - beginning of II millennium. AD, we come to the conclusion that the stereotypes of thinking reflected in the epigraphy turned out to be much more stable than the traditional runic alphabet.

At the same time, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the inscriptions are purely utilitarian, because they combine the properties of the manufacturer's brand and the owner's mark. This serves as a reflection of the main and main trend, which is a projection of the general runic trend and concluded in the steady desacralization of runic writing, diminishing role of magical,ritual And dedicatory inscriptions and the growing role of inscriptions of profane, everyday content. Having emerged in the era of the older runes, as part of the transitional period in continental Europe and on the islands, this trend leads to complete triumph of profane inscriptions in the pre-runic period.

As for the older runic inscriptions on weapons, they demonstrate much less formalization. Actually, the typology of inscriptions is not very diverse. Five main categories can be distinguished:

1. The proper name of a weapon, most often a one-word or compound epithet, that is, a haty or kenning;
2. Indication of the name of the owner of the weapon;
3. An indication of the person who carved the runes - eril;
4. Magic spell or its abbreviation;
5. Direct dedication of weapons to the ace, counting on help.

The extreme difficulty of reading, and even more so of interpreting some of the inscriptions, should keep us from drawing categorical conclusions. However, we note that, as a rule, these types do not intersect, that is, the subject usually carries a fairly brief inscription that lies within one of the specified semantic fields. The extreme importance of the magical component of runic symbols is obvious. With the instability of spelling common to older runic monuments, there is a surprisingly stubborn and persistent desire to mark weapons using extremely expressive epithets that unambiguously emphasize the aggressive and active or, less often, defensive nature of the weapon. "Aiming for a Goal","Furious", "Penetrating"- it is difficult to imagine more suitable names for spears or swords. fair statement L.A.Novotny, indicating that the inscriptions on the weapons are primarily language of warriors and tribal nobility, intended for barbarically sublime poetic transmission of the feeling of struggle, blood, wounds, weapons, corpses, hunting, etc. This in itself is a brilliant and vivid reflection of the restless world of the crushers of the Empire, recreating the feverish and warlike atmosphere of an era when every warrior was in a state of permanent struggle for his existence and for victory, an era known to us from the epic and the bloody shade of gold jewelry.

Undoubtedly personal connection between the weapon and its owner. One does not exist without the other, and vice versa. These inscriptions imprinted the hope for help in a decisive throw and a successful blow, the hope that a shield placed in time will withstand and not let you down. A throwing spear, angon, was a very important element of equipment and at the same time sometimes acted as the main character in the fight. The first all-destroying throw could lead to an unconditional victory even before hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, special attention was paid to him. At the same time, an unsuccessful throw threatened the further outcome of the fight. It is precisely because of this that the inscriptions on spearheads, which act as a kind of symbol of the era, are sometimes so laconic and bright.

The warrior loved his weapon, trusted it, called it by a bright and sonorous name, expecting help in battle, probably, first of all, from the weapon itself, and only secondarily - from the deity responsible for the military success. Undoubtedly certain, more or less explicitly expressed, weapon personification, endowing it with certain features of an animated being, which organically fit into the stereotypes of pagan thinking and continued the surviving-totemic tradition of the zoomorph in decorating helmets. In this context, the direct continuation of this tradition of animation is knightly custom give proper names to swords, spears and other weapons. He, like many other features of classical European chivalry, is rooted precisely in the Germanic tradition of the pagan period. "Alive" the sword or spear continued on its way to another world - with the owner, as grave goods, or independently, like most of the finds from swamps of northern Europe. Indeed, when analyzing the inscriptions on weapons, one immediately gets the feeling that the spear, having received its own name, really acquired with it its own unique destiny, which was no less glorious and, perhaps, from the point of view of an archaeologist, much longer, than the fate of its owner. So, the Kovel spear has already distanced itself so much from its owner in our minds that the ups and downs of its fate - not only the latest, but also the early medieval ones - are really perceived as the adventures of the spear itself and only secondarily as the adventures of an unknown Gothic warrior.

When analyzing the texts of runic inscriptions on weapons, it is tempting to interpret some of the characteristic epithets as hate Asov, in particular the Odin. It is known that written sources give us an extremely diverse palette of Odin's hati, numbering many dozens of names, besides, there probably were others. Such a possibility cannot be denied. In addition, it is Odin who owns one of the few Eddic "nominal" weapons - a spear Gungnir. However, none of the texts known to us mentions the runes inscribed on the spear, but this, of course, does not say anything.

The whole story with the acquisition of secret knowledge of runes by Odin is closely tied to this type of weapon - it was the wisest of Ases who pierced himself with a spear, sacrificing himself to himself. stable axle Odin - spear - runes, which is reminiscent of the abundance of typical inscriptions on the tips of pikes and darts, makes us pay more attention to this - the main and most ancient - type of weapon.

At the same time, there is direct written evidence of the presence of runic symbols and inscriptions on swords. The canonical version "Speech of Sigrdriva", which find a direct analogy in the inscriptions on the pommel from Faversham and, possibly, spears from Holborough:

runes of victory
if you aspire to it -
cut them out
on the sword hilt
and mark twice
in the name of Tyr!
(Sigrdriva's speeches: 6)

stanza from "Beowulf" brilliantly illustrates one of the options for applying runes to weapons. Hrodgar, examining the gilded twisted hilt of the sword, sees on the scennum an image of the battle of the deity with the giants and an inscription indicating by whom and for whom the sword was made:

...and shone on gold
runes clear,
proclaiming,
for whom and by whom
this serpentine
the sword was forged
in those centuries immemorial
along with the shank,
twisted handle...
(Beowulf: 1694)

What part of the handle was meant by the term scennum, is unknown, but this inscription typologically corresponds precisely to the transitional form of the older runic inscriptions of the Anglo-Saxon region, which retain an archaic appearance, but already demonstrate a standardized late non-magical (profane) formula with a mention of the manufacturer/owner. The narrator does not mention specific names when describing the inscription - perhaps it was self-evident for him that it was the owner of the weapon and the master that should be mentioned in an inscription of this kind: the established tradition was assumed "by default". A similar type of inscriptions finds full correspondence in the find of the pommel from Ash Gilton and possibly from Sarre. Ash-Gilton find chronologically, typologically and BiYu “conceptually” is closest to the sword from "Beowulf" and, undoubtedly, is only the tip of the iceberg, inaccessible to our perception and assessment due to the fragmentary nature of the source fund of the era of the "dark ages".

Finally, it is appropriate to make one more assumption. It seems that the maturation and constitution of the formalized texts of runic inscriptions on weapons was to some extent associated with the less and less individualization of the forms of the weapons themselves. The number of squads grew, the production resources of society increased, and the quality of weapons improved. A sword or spear, while remaining an enduring value and the subject of a warrior's sincere affection, nevertheless, to some extent, lost individuality. Spearheads, axes and even swords of the Viking Age, and even more so of the subsequent period, not only became more massive - the variety of their external forms definitely decreased. A somewhat lesser expressiveness of the forms of late weapons - with an increase in their effectiveness - is obvious. Previously, each item of weapons really was a unique piece of weapon art - taken by itself, it apparently meant more to its owner than at a later time, and was more appreciated. He seemed to have his own face, completely unique and individual. It is in this that we must look for the roots of the custom of giving weapons their own names. The weapon was extremely valuable, and putting the name of the owner on its surface, in any case, in the last place, could have the goal of designating precisely proprietary relations - it was already clear to everyone whose spear or sword it was.

The kings of the Viking Age, of course, supplied their warriors with more or less significant batches of weapons, ordering them from blacksmiths. This was the first and very confident step towards the standardization of weapons, facilitating their production and improving quality, but at the same time always steadily leading to depersonalization of things. Popular types of swords were in service for a long time, unifying to a very large extent. All large and large contingents of vigilantes gathered under one roof in a banquet hall, on one ship, in one camp, etc. More and more often it became a situation in which warriors could mix up their weapons. It was during this period that the need for signs of ownership, purely utilitarian marks of the owner, comes out of the shadows and becomes the imperative of the times.

modern model Such an epigraphic monument is the name of the owner drawn with a ballpoint pen on the inside of the crown of a peakless cap or cap, which is easy to find on most headdresses in any of the military schools or garrisons. This is a rather “rough” model, however, standardization has now been brought to its logical limit.

The first steps of pre-industrial standardization at the end of the 1st millennium AD. destroyed a significant proportion of the individuality of the weapon, pretty much "impersonal" it, which was reflected in the change in the stereotype of runic formulas and the degree of their prevalence. The proposed scheme, of course, does not exhaust the essence of the problem, but it seems to be the main direction of its solution.

(C) A.A. Khlevov Heralds of the Vikings. Northern Europe in the 1st - 8th centuries