CHAIN MAIL

The chain mail armor is a medieval armor type that was used commonly in both the western and Islamic world. However, the chain mail found in the Islamic world stands out due to its characteristics and Islamic references. Displayed in the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, is a damascened steel chain mail body armor belonging to the late Ottoman Turkey, Iran or India. The armor called a hauberk would cover one’s body starting from their shoulders, leaving the neck exposed to be covered from three sides by the mail from the helmet. It would cover one’s full torso, hands till one’s elbows and extend till ones knees with a divided slit starting from the end of the torso so that it is not a hindrance to movement. This mail armor would be made according to the person’s size and would weigh around 13 kilograms (Fliegel, 2007). This armor is worn along with a helmet made out of the same material and accompanied with a decorated shield. The armor in the Sharjah museum of Islamic civilization is made of out damascened steel, i.e. inlaid with gold and dark golden in color. It is accompanied with a helmet inscribed with narrow bands of arabesque patterns on the head piece of the helmet and with a decorated arm shield. Such Islamic armors were often decorated with a wide variety of inscriptions of Qur'anic passages, which functioned, as powerful defenses in the form of lucky charms, or simply as visually pleasing ornament.

ABOUT CHAIN MAIL ARMOR

Chain mail is a form of body armor that has been in use much before the arrival of Islam. It was worn by European knights and military men throughout the medieval period and is also seen in the Bayeux tapestry, worn by Charlemagne. The armor consists of a mail shirt called hauberk or dera’ which...

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...era to protect the dynasty and religion. Furthermore, it presents itself as an art object representative of the ottoman period due to the material used, arabesque and calligraphic inscriptions.

CONCLUSION

The chain mail armor, made of damascened steel presents itself as an important historical object representing the ottoman empire. Although it existed before the advent of Islam, the chain mail armor was widely used in the medieval times. Construction of the mail has developed through time, starting from a craftsperson linking individual chains with pincers to the mail containing links. Additionally, the inscriptions on the helmet and the shield provide the armor with Islamic characteristic. The chain mail armor is now replaced by modern body armors, the inscriptions, materiality, craft present in the armor give it a inspiring and important historical object.