Sasanian horse armor

TL;DRAbstract

The goal of the paper is to define general types and the evolution of horse armor employed by elite warriors of Sasanian Iran, basing on literary sources and iconographical evidence with minor reference to archaeological finds in wider Eurasian perspective. The horse armor was an important part of cavalry equipment already in the chariot warfare however its re-emergence in mounted combat occurred when heavy cavalry was developed. The article divides Sasanian horse armor into several groups: 1. One-piece body protection, which overall cover mounts body the way modern horse blankets do. Within the group one may find following subgroups: 1.a Caparisons – known from numerous works of art (rock reliefs illustrating scenes of mounted combat at Firusbad and Nakš e Rostam as well as the on so-called Shapur cameo currently held in Louvre) having long Near Eastern and Eurasian tradition. 1.b Scale barding – which in fact is a sort of caparison covered with metallic scales sewn onto textile horse

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