Re: : Sword metals? Prof Murphy

Considering the question posed about sword metals, to my knowledge, all or
most of the extant samurai blades are of steel, or possibly the most early
Japanese swords of iron. In the Middle East, bronze was used as a metal for
swords in the early Dynasties of Egypt. But it was the introduction of iron as
the cutting edge---sorry about that !!!!!!-----in warfare technology that
allowed what could be called the Military Revolution of ancient times, the
bringing of Rome and Greece to prominence in the Mediterranean region. Brass, to
the best of my knowledge, was never a metal used in the making of swords,
but has always been used in the makings of fittings for the swords and their
scabbards. All the best, Professor Murphy, The Japan Foundation


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This is always a fascinating subject. I recall reading there was a long
transition period from bronze to iron swords. Many believed bronze swords could
take a sharper cutting edge and so they maintained an edge over iron swords for
quite some centuries. There is a much longer story to this that I could dig out
if list denizens want to follow up...

Best regards,

Barry Thomas
(Melbourne, Australia)

----- Original Message -----
From: <murphymurphyjohn@...>
To: <samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 4:54 AM
Subject: Re: [samuraihistory]: Sword metals? Prof Murphy


Considering the question posed about sword metals, to my knowledge, all or
most of the extant samurai blades are of steel, or possibly the most early
Japanese swords of iron. In the Middle East, bronze was used as a metal for
swords in the early Dynasties of Egypt...
All the best, Professor Murphy, The Japan Foundation

murphymurphyjohn@... wrote:

> Considering the question posed about sword metals, to my knowledge, all or
> most of the extant samurai blades are of steel, or possibly the most early
> Japanese swords of iron.

Generally, that's spot on. Some of the earliest blades unearthed were of iron,
although many bronze spear-heads and similar items of bronze were found in
Japanese tumuli. There were a few bronze swords as well, but they don't seem to
be in the majority in the early period.


Tony