Spain's 'Excalibur' Sword, a 1,000-Year-Old Weapon Found Buried Upright, Reflects the Region's Rich Islamic History (2024)
A sword unearthed in Spain and nicknamed “Excalibur” after King Arthur’s legendary blade is more than 1,000 years old, researchers say. A rare artifact from the Iberian Peninsula’s Islamic period, the weapon illustrates the region’s layered history of subjugation.
In Arthurian legend, Excalibur is a sword magically lodged in a stone, until a young Arthur pulls it out, earning the right to be crowned king of Britain. Three decades ago, researchers in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain, unearthed a weapon in a similar position—buried upright at an archaeological site—and nicknamed it accordingly. Now, the sword has been restored and analyzed by the local city council’s Archaeology Service, whose scholars have dated it to the tenth century, when Valencia was called Balansiya, per a statement.
“This sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological and heritage value,” says Councilor José Luis Moreno in the statement.
The weapon was discovered in 1994 on the historic Chabàs Street, north of Valencia’s ancient Roman forum—an area that “has been occupied by various cultures throughout the city’s history,” writes Newsweek’s Aristos Georgiou. Between 500 and 1000 C.E., Byzantine, Visigothic and Arab forces fought for control of the Iberian Peninsula, which is mainly made up of Spain and Portugal. The first centuries of this period saw the Byzantines, originating in the Middle East, lose the peninsula to the Visigoths of Western Europe. Then, beginning in 711, armies united by the Umayyad dynasty—the Arab caliphate’s first great Muslim regime—brought the entire peninsula under Islamic rule. The Muslims, also known as the Moors, named their Iberian kingdom Al-Andalus, a title later tweaked to Andalusia.
Archaeologist José Miguel Osuna led the new research as part of a broader survey of Valencia’s collection of metal objects, which spans the Roman era to the late medieval period. Made of iron, the sword is short, measuring about 18 inches long. Per the statement, its hilt is decorated with bronze plates and notches for easy handling. The tip of the blade is slightly curved, creating confusion over the chronology, as Visigothic swords had a similar shape. (The design probably reflects the evolution of earlier Visigothic models.) Osuna and his colleagues confirmed the artifact’s age by analyzing the layers of sedimentary earth in which it was buried.
The weapon’s small size and lack of a hand guard suggest it was used by an Andalusian horseman. It’s the only Islamic-era sword ever found in Valencia. Just one comparable weapon has been excavated in Spain, on the outskirts of Córdoba. Archaeological finds from this period are rare in the country—and even rarer in Valencia due to the characteristics of the city’s soil.
The Iberian Peninsula’s Islamic era was a time of “remarkable cross-cultural exchange between Christian, Jewish and Muslim populations,” notes the Metropolitan Museum of Art on its website. By the 900s, Córdoba had become “perhaps the greatest intellectual center of Europe,” the museum adds. Muslim rule continued until around 1492, when a long period of fading influence culminated in Christians’ conquest of Granada.
Thanks to the sword’s recent examination, says Moreno, “We have a new treasure in this Islamic Excalibur and a historical legacy of ancient Balansiya.”
A sword unearthed in Spain and nicknamed “Excalibur” after King Arthur's legendary blade is more than 1,000 years old, researchers say. A rare artifact from the Iberian Peninsula's Islamic period, the weapon illustrates the region's layered history of subjugation.
Excalibur is a legendary sword, in the mythology of Great Britain. It was owned by King Arthur. The sword and its name have become very widespread in popular culture, and are used in fiction and films. Excalibur is a symbol of divine kingship and great power.
The 18-inch-long (46 centimeters) iron sword was found in an upright position inside a grave in 1994, leading its finder to call it "Excalibur" after the legendary sword of King Arthur, who, according to medieval folklore, pulled an upright sword out of a stone and then ascended the throne of Britain.
A study of the “Excalibur” sword found in Valencia has been revealed to have Islamic origins sometime during the 10th century AD. Valencia is one of the oldest cities in Spain, founded under the name of Valentia Edetanorum by the Romans in 138 BC.
Likewise, the earliest weapons that humans made would have been the simplest: a large stick or stone that we could use to beat or throw at something (or someone). Soon after, it must have occurred to us to develop ways to sharpen these objects into rudimentary yet deadly spears or edged stones.
Cortés' secret weapon was 16 horses, which the native Americans had never before seen. There were also many dogs, wolfhounds and mastiffs. In Europe, the use of dogs in war was common and they were deployed with horrible effect in the New World where, once again, the Indians had never seen such creatures.
Some believe that The Excalibur was the same sword that Arthur pulled out of the stone to claim his right to the throne of Britain. However, the more popular belief is that Arthur received The Excalibur from the enchanted Lady of the Lake, after he broke his original sword, known as Caliburn, in a battle.
It was endowed with special attributes such as being able to blind Arthur's enemies. The tales tell that if you carried Excalibur you would never be defeated in battle. But Merlin (it is said) thought the scabbard worth two of the blade because when you bore it you would never die in battle.
Well, firstly you would be undefeatable in battle. That was supposed to be the primary virtue of Excalibur and it worked for Arthur until the final ambiguous victory at Camlann. Secondly, you would be well advised to look around and see if you can find the scabbard.
With a golden sun overhead, Matilda Jones of Doncaster glimpsed a treasure within the water's depths. The seven-year-old called to her father, who replied with disbelief. "I told her not to be silly and it was probably a bit of fencing," Paul Jones, 51, told the newspaper.
However, in the subsequent Post-Vulgate Cycle variants of the Merlin and the Merlin Continuation, written soon afterwards, Arthur's sword drawn from the stone is unnamed. Furthermore, the young Arthur promptly breaks it in his duel against King Pellinore very early in his reign.
The secrets of a historic sword dubbed "Excalibur" are being unraveled, as researchers finally reveal its age. The iron sword was originally found stuck in the ground upright in 1994 at an archaeological site in the old town of Valencia, a city located on Spain's eastern coast.
In Arthurian legends, Excalibur is returned to the Lady of the Lake after King Arthur's death. When he is dying, Arthur tells one of his knights, often Bedivere, to throw the sword back into the lake. In most of the stories, the knight resists this command because the sword is so valuable.
Strong resemblance to the twin swords of Arslantepe, as well as information about its metallic composition, allowed experts to determine that the sword dates back to around the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Arslantepe swords are considered the oldest type of sword in the world.
The harquebus was invented in Spain in the mid-15th century. It was often fired from a support, against which the recoil was transferred from a hook on the gun. Its name seems to derive from German words meaning “hooked gun.” The bore varied, and its effective range was less than 650 feet (200 m).
During their conquest of South America, the Spanish might also have used smallpox as a weapon. Nevertheless, the unintentional spread of diseases among native Americans killed about 90% of the pre-columbian population (McNeill, 1976).
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