Found a rare sword over 1,000 years old

A new study reveals the rare sword nicknamed Excalibur from the Spanish city of Valencia is 1,000 years old, meaning it was last used when most of Spain was ruled by Muslims .

The 46 cm long iron sword was found upright in a tomb in 1994, leading its finder to call it "Excalibur" after the legendary sword of King Arthur, who according to folklore The Middle Ages pulled an upright sword out of a stone and then ascended the throne of England.

The sword nicknamed Excalibur was found dating back to the Islamic period in Spain in the 10th century. (Photo: Valencia City Council Archaeological Service)

The Valencia sword was found in a mosque in northern ancient Rome. The hilt was decorated with bronze plates and had notches that made it easier to use the sword.

Although the blade was found in one place from the Islamic period, there is one feature that makes the sword difficult to date: The sword is slightly curved toward the tip. This feature is also seen in swords made by the Visigoths, who ruled Spain from 418 to 711 AD. This raises the question of whether the sword dates from the Visigothic or Islamic period (711 to 1492).

To answer this question, the city of Valencia awarded a scholarship to José Miguel Osuna, an archaeologist at the University of Granada, to determine the date of the sword. By studying the metal of the weapon and the sediments where the sword was found, he determined that the sword dated from the 10th century, when Valencia was under Muslim rule, and that the name of it is Balansiya.

He also discovered that the size of the sword and the lack of a hand guard suggested that the sword was used by a knight. This study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.

This artifact is a rare artifact. According to the statement, this is the first sword from the Islamic period to be unearthed in Valencia.

During Islamic rule, architecture, art and literature flourished. The last Islamic state in Spain ended in 1492, when the emirate of Granada surrendered to the forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.