Al-Ma'thur, Sword of the Prophet Muhammad
Title: Al-Ma'thur, Sword of the Prophet Muhammad
Artist: Unknown
Date: ca. 700 A.D.
Medium: Steel, gold, rubies, turquoise, emeralds, wood, leather
Credit Line: Topkapi Palace Museum, 21/129
This sword is Al-Ma'thur, also known as Ma'thur al-Fijar, and is one of the nine swords of the Prophet Muhammad. It was commissioned for him by his father toward the end of the fifth century or beginning of the sixth century, prior to the Prophet's first revelations. It originally had a steel blade and a hilt made of leather and wood, but has since been enhanced. The steel blade remains, but is now enveloped by an emerald green sheath covered in vegetal gold embroidery. It also now possesses a gold-gilded hilt and scabbard encrusted with precious rubies and emeralds and semi-precious turquoise. The curved hilt reveals the heads of two snakes with ruby-red eyes and bared fangs. These extravagant additions were enabled by the art-loving Ottomans, who took great pride in their possession of the Prophet's relics and augmented them in a grandiose manner. Also upon their takeover, the Ottomans designated a special area of the Topkapi Palace for the housing of Muhammad's relics-- this was called the Treasury of the Prophet. Today, Muhammad's swords, along with other relics such as his bow and cloak, can be viewed in the third courtyard of the Topkapi Palace Museum.
