A NOTE ON THE “HUNGARIAN SABERS” OF

MEDIEVAL BULGARIA

Valeri Iotov

Ever since the late nineteenth century, a group of sabers have been singled
out, which have been found in late ninth- or tenth-century assemblages
attributed to the Hungarians of the “conquest age” (honfoglaló). These
long sabers of between 750 and 950 mm have therefore been dubbed
“Hungarian”, mainly because they shared a number of peculiar charac-
teristics, such as hilts set at a sharp angle to the blade and equipped
with a pear-shaped head; hand guard bars flanked by spherical, bead-
like ornaments bent towards the blade; slightly curved blades; and edge
extensions in the lower third of the saber, where the single-edged blade
becomes double-edged (elman).1
The idea that such sabers were typically Hungarians and used only by
Hungarians has been seriously challenged in the 1950s and 1960s espe-
cially by Soviet archaeologists.2 Nikolai Merpert summarized the criti-
cism by categorically rejecting the idea of a single place of origin for the
“Hungarian sabers” and of a single tribe having a long-term monopoly
over such weapons.3 Irrespective of the ethnic attribution, the so-called
“Hungarian saber” is nevertheless a distinct weapon, which appears with
a great degree of consistency in mid- to late ninth-century burial assem-
blages in the steppe lands north of the Black and Caspian seas, as well as
in the Carpathian Basin from the late ninth to the mid-tenth century. On
the basis of their respective distributions, Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlamm
distinguished two main types of “Hungarian sabers”: the Koban type,
and the saber without scabbard with lavish gold or silver decoration.4
Best known among specimens of Schulze-Dörrlamm’s first type are the

1
Tóth 1934, Arendt 1934, and Fettich 1937.
2
Korzukhina 1950; Merpert 1955; Kirpichnikov 1966, 68–72.
3
Merpert 1955, 166. To be sure, Merpert dealt in his study with two chronologically
different types of sabers found on the territory of the Soviet Union.
4
Schulze 1984, 477 and 506 fig. 5; Schulze-Dörrlamm 1988, 460–62 and fig. 19.
For the Koban type, see Schulze-Dörrlamm 1988, 393–98 and 459–60 with fig. 19. For
sabers without scabbards with gold or silver decoration, see Schulze-Dörrlamm 1988,
394–401 and fig. 22.
328 valeri iotov

lavishly decorated, so-called “Charlemagne saber” now in Vienna; the

Gesztered saber; and a number of specimens from the Karos cemetery
in Hungary.5
So far, no scholar studying the “Hungarian sabers” took into con-
sideration specimens from Bulgaria. To be sure, only a few sabers are
known from that country, in sharp contrast with over 150 specimens
(88 of which are “Hungarian sabers”) from Russia, Ukraine, Hungary,
Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Austria. In fact, until recently, only
one whole saber was known from Bulgaria, namely that from grave 27
of the Novi Pazar cemetery. Blade fragments have also been found in the
same cemetery, as well as in Pliska.6 The recent publication of two whole
sabers, as well of other fragments, increased the number of specimens
already known from the collections of the Archaeological Museum in
Varna, as well as from other museums and private collections, and now
invites a re-examination of the problem.
One of the two recently published sabers was found within the ancient
hillfort site near Debrene, in the Dobrich district (Fig. 1).7 This well pre-
served saber is 860 mm long and has a curved blade, of which two thirds
are single- and one third is double-edged. The hilt is pronouncedly tilted
towards the blade edge and ends in a pear-shaped pommel. The wooden
or bone grip must have been held together by two ferrules with spools of
coiled wire. The guard is a little thickened in the middle, with shoulders
bent towards the blade and spherical quillions. Under the guard, there
is a laminated piece serving as langet. On the edge, there are remains
of the wooden scabbard, to which belonged a cylindrical top mount, as
well as a box-like appliqué for attaching the scabbard to the belt. The
archaeological evidence from the Debrene excavations, including four
unique coins struck for Emperor Leo VI (886–912) strongly suggests
that the hillfort was occupied between the late ninth and early tenth
century. A similar date may be advanced for the saber. This is further
substantiated by a belt set found next to the saber, with good parallels in
early tenth-century burial assemblages in Ukraine and Hungary, which
have been attributed to the conquering Hungarians.8

5
For the “Charlemagne saber”, see Hampel 1897–1899; Tóth 1934; Kirpichnikov
1965. For the Gesztered saber, see Fettich 1937, pl. 68; Dienes 1972, fig. 4. For the Karos
sabers, see Révész 1996, pl. 73/2, 82, 122.
6
Stancho and Ivanov 1958, 9 and 103 with pl. 27.1; Shkorpil 1905, 506 and pl. 113.
7
Iotov 1992.
8
Iotov 1993.
 a note on the “hungarian sabers” of medieval bulgaria 329

Figure 1. Debrene, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author. Courtesy of the

Historical Museum in Dobrich.

Another saber was found in the environs of the village of Iarebitsa, in the
district of Dulovo (Fig. 2).9 Almost identical to the Debrene saber, the
Iarebitsa specimen is nevertheless a little longer (920 mm). Much of
the original saber is well preserved: blade, pommel, ferrules with wire
spools holding together the grip, hilt guard. The latter has shoulders
curved downwards with a pyramid-shaped knob in the middle. A langet
overlies the base of the blade, next to the crossbar, leaving room for the
mouth of the scabbard to slip in-between. Very prominent is the elman,
a sharp transition between single- and double-edged blade. The saber

9
Kănev 2002, 120 with fig. 3.
330 valeri iotov

Figure 2. Iarebitsa, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author. Courtesy of the

Historical Museum in Dobrich.

has a wooden scabbard with chape, a portion of which consisted of a

mount with curving edges.
Three saber guards are also known from Preslav, where the capital of
early medieval Bulgaria moved ca. 900 (Fig. 3.3–5).10 Two more were
found in the Stărmen hillfort (district of Ruse), while another two come
from the early medieval occupation phase of the Odărtsi hillfort in the
Dobrich district (Fig. 3.6–9).11 Another guard is known from the Ruino
hillfort in the district of Silistra (Fig. 3.10).12 In his publication of the
Iarebitsa hoard, I. Kănev also published a guard found in an unknown
location in northeastern Bulgaria, now in the National Museum of

10
Changova 1969, 222 with fig. 1.23; Bonev 1993, 75 with fig. 13a; Lisitsov 1977, 23.
11
Kurnatowska 1973, 89 and fig. 1.5, 6; Doncheva-Petkova 1999, 742–43.
12
Atanasov 2000, 201 and pl. 12.43.
 a note on the “hungarian sabers” of medieval bulgaria 331

Figure 3. “Hungarian saber” crossbar guards from Bulgaria: 3–5—Preslav; 6–7—

Stărmen; 8–9—Odărtsi; 10—Ruino; 11—northeastern Bulgaria. Drawings
by author.

Figure 4. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber”

crossbar guard. Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in
Varna.
332 valeri iotov

Figure 5. Silistra, “Hungarian saber” attachment appliqué. Photo by author.

Figure 6. Tsar Asen, “Hungarian saber” scabbard mouthpiece mount. Photo

by author.
 a note on the “hungarian sabers” of medieval bulgaria 333

History (Figs. 3.11 and 4).13 An attachment appliqué from Silistra (Fig.
5) and a copper-alloy, laminated piece from Tsar Asen in the district
of Silistra may have also belonged to “Hungarian sabers.”14 For the for-
mer, Stanislav Stanilov points to many analogies in assemblages found
in Hungary, especially a pair of appliqués for the equally ”Hungarian”
saber from Gesztered.15 The laminated piece from Tsar Asen (Fig. 6) has
been interpreted as part of the pommel, but on the basis of two analo-
gies from grave 10 and 15 oft he Martan Chu cemetery in the northern
Caucasus region, I suggest instead that such mounts served to bind the
scabbard mouthpiece for “Hungarian sabers” of the Koban type.16
Another saber was found on the early medieval hillfort site at Popina,
in the district of Silistra (Fig. 7).17 Two other sabers, now in the Archae-
ological Museum of Varna, have been found in northeastern Bulgaria
(Figs. 8–9).18 All three sabers are very similar to, and almost of the same
size as the Debrene and Iarebitsa specimens. Moreover, the guard of the
Popina saber is similar to that of the Iarebitsa saber (Fig. 2). Several
other guards, now in the Archaeological Museum in Varna, are said to
have been found in northeastern Bulgaria (Fig. 10).19 All three have very
good analogies among sabers found in assemblages attributed to Hun-
garian warriors at the time of their first major raids into Central and
Western Europe. Most prominent amont such analogies are the copper-
alloy guards studied by Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlamm.20 Finally two box
appliqués from the same region of northeastern Bulgaria display a gilded
palmetto decoration (Fig. 11), almost identical to that of belt mounts for
saber attachments found in a tenth-century burial in Tiszavasvári.21
All these analogies for either whole sabers or their components point
to a rather homogeneous group of weapons justifying the name bestowed
upon them. Their chronology strongly suggests an association between

13
Kănev 2002.
14
Stanilov 1999, 36–37.
15
See Korzukhina 1950, fig. 8; Dienes 1972, 74 with fig. 4.
16
Vinogradov 1983, figs. 3.4 and 7.7.
17
Unpublished. Now in the Historical Museum of Dobrich (A-s 1305).
18
Unpublished. Now in the Archaeological Museum of Varna, inv. IV 5052 and
5686.
19
Unpublished. Now in the Archaeological Museum of Varna, inv. 4901–4902, 4958,
and 4968.
20
Schulze 1984, 487 with fig. 11.7, 14. See also Bakay, 1966, 48 with fig. 2; Dąbrowska
1979, 348 fig. 5; Bálint 1980, 241 fig. 2; Dienes 1972, 185–88 with figs. 4–5.
21
Unpublished. Now in the Archaeological Museum of Varna, inv. IV 4938 and IV
5000. For Tiszavasvári, see Dienes 1996, 188 fig. 8.
334 valeri iotov

Figure 7. Popina, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author. Courtesy of the Historical

Museum in Dobrich.

Figure 8. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber.”

Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.
 a note on the “hungarian sabers” of medieval bulgaria 335

Figure 9. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber.”

Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.

Figure 10. Unknown locations in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber”

crossbar guards. Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in
Varna.
336 valeri iotov

Figure 11. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber” box

appliqué. Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.

such weapons and the Hungarian raids into Bulgaria during the first
regnal years of Symeon (895–912) or with their expedition against Byz-
antium during the tenth century.22 However, the large number of finds
so far known, which can only be compared to those of Hungary, points
to a widespread use of the “Hungarian sabers” in contemporary warfare.
In that respect, such weapons indicate warfare tactics similar to those
of the Hungarian nomads, not necessarily the presence of the Hungar-
ians themselves. Whether they were adopted from the Hungarians or
not, the “Hungarian sabers” quickly became a favorite weapon of tenth-
century warriors in Southeastern Europe.

22
Dimitrov 1998, 29–37; Curta 2006, 188–89.
 a note on the “hungarian sabers” of medieval bulgaria 337

References

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Illustrations

Figures
1. Debrene, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author. Courtesy of the Historical Museum
in Dobrich.
2. Iarebitsa, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author. Courtesy of the Historical Museum
in Dobrich.
3. “Hungarian saber” crossbar guards from Bulgaria: 3–5—Preslav; 6–7—Stărmen;
8–9—Odărtsi; 10—Ruino; 11—northeastern Bulgaria. Drawings by author.
4. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber” crossbar guard.
Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.
5. Silistra, “Hungarian saber” attachment appliqué. Photo by author.
6. Tsar Asen, “Hungarian saber” scabbard mouthpiece mount. Photo by author.
7. Popina, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author. Courtesy of the Historical Museum in
Dobrich.
8. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author.
Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.
9. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber.” Photo by author.
Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.
10. Unknown locations in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber” crossbar guards.
Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.
11. Unknown location in northeastern Bulgaria, “Hungarian saber” box appliqué.
Photo by author. Courtesy of the Archaeological Museum in Varna.