The acinaces, also spelled akinakes (Greek ἀκινάκης) or akinaka (unattested Old Persian *akīnaka^h) is a type of sword or dagger used by the Ancient Persians. The design is of Scythian origin, but was made famous by the Persians, and rapidly spread around the old world (its influence can even be seen in the design of Chinese weapons). The acinaces is typically 14"-18" in length, with two edges, a split-shaped pommel, and rounded, rectangular or B-shaped cross-guard which, although deep, does not protrude very far from the blade. Interestingly, the scabbard as much as anything else defines the acinaces: it usually has a bracket on one side allowing it to hang diagonally from the right hip. The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ... Sketch of the first column of the Behistun Inscription Old Persian is the oldest attested Persid language. ... A sword (from Old English sweord; akin to Old High German swerd lit. ... For the typographical mark, see dagger (typography). ... Achaemenid empire in its highest extent The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius the Great and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing some parts of todays Iraq... Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ... See also: Hilt (band) and Peter Hilt The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard, grip and pommel. ... A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword. ...

Since the acinaces seems to have been a thrusting weapon, and since it was typically worn on the right, it was likely intended to be suddenly drawn with the blade facing down for surprise stabbing attacks.

Identification

Ancient texts say very little about the acinaces, other than that it was a type of "Persian sword." Because of this, authors writing in Latin throughout history tended to equate the word with whatever type of weapon the contemporary Persians were using. Thus, it is frequently used in later Latin texts to mean scimitar or the like, a meaning it still retains in scientific Latin. Paulus Hector Mair even goes so far as to translate dussack as acinaces, because it is curved like a scimitar. The term scimitar refers to a sword with a curved blade from western Asia. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... page of Mscr. ... A dussack is a type of antiquated German single-edged weapon, or cutlass. ...

However the Persian shamshir is a relatively recent weapon, and did not exist in antiquity. The Achaemenid-era Persians made use of more than one kind of sword: Ancient Persian art typically shows the king's bodyguards, and important nobles wearing ornate diagonal daggers; Greek art, on the other hand, frequently shows Persian soldiers using the kopis. One must therefore do some detective work to figure out which type is the acinaces. A shamshir is a curved sword of Persian origin, with a curve that is considered radical for a sword: 15 to 30 degrees from tip to tip. ... The Charioteer of Delphi, Delphi Archaeological Museum. ... An illustration showing a kopis with a hook-like hilt. ...

One useful bit of evidence is that Greek and Roman texts sometimes mention the acinaces being given out by the King as a sign of favor. This would tend to point to the dagger.

A very revealing passage is found in Josephus' Jewish Antiquities 20.186, where the weapons used by the sicarii are described: Josephus, also known as Flavius Josephus (c. ... Sicarii is a term applied, in the decades immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, to the Jewish Zealots, who attempted to expel the Romans and their partisans from Judea: —Josephus, Jewish Antiquities (xx. ...

And the so-called sicarii, which were a type of bandit, were at that time reaching their greatest number, making use of small swords, which were like the Persian acinaces in respect to their size, but curved like the Roman sica, which is where these bandits got their name.

This also seems to indicate that it is the dagger which is properly called the acinaces (though there are those who deny this, translating the above passage as "convex like the Roman sica").

External Links

• Ancient Persian swords (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/weapons.html)