This chapter explores the visual sources for violence and warfare created over the millennium from 500 to 1500 in the lands where Islam became a major presence.
These sources, which draw upon a rich visual tradition known from pre-Islamic times in the Mediterranean, the Near East, Iran and Central Asia, range from individual scenes depicted on ceramics, metalwares and other portable objects to sequential images and narratives in murals and manuscripts, the last produced mainly though not exclusively in the Persianate world after 1250.
Subjects depicted include the hunt against both real and imaginary creatures, murders, single combats, battles, sieges, torture and more.The chapter seeks to examine how we can use these illustrations in addition to the simple identification of individual weapons and materials employed to carry out such violence and warfare, including swords, maces, composite bows, lamellar armour and siege engines.[1073] What else do these depictions tell us about the society in which they were created? How do they relate to the stories or texts that they illustrate? Can they be seen as metaphors or commentaries? How much of these depictions is stereotyped and choreographed, or do some of them draw from actual experience? Do they ever reflect the personal views of the artists or patrons? How do they change over time? Do they differ in different regions? The aim is to show how visual sources can add another layer of meaning to the written word.
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