Of precious swords and Old Sinitic reconstructions, part 7
[This is a guest post by Chau Wu, with additions at the bottom by VHM and others]
On the akinakes* (Scythian dagger / short sword) and Xiongnu (Hunnish) horse sacrifice
Chinese historical records suggest that the akinakes, transliterated from Greek ἀκῑνάκης, may be endowed with spiritual significance in the eyes of ancient Chinese and Northern Barbarians, for it was used in solemn ceremonies. Let me cite two recorded ceremonies and a special occasion where an akinakes is used to “finesse” an emperor.
In the Book of Han (漢書), Chapter 94 B, Records of Xiongnu (匈奴傳下), we see an akinakes is used in a ceremony sealing a treaty of friendship between the Han and Xiongnu. The Han emissaries, the Chief Commandant of charioteers and cavalry [車騎都尉] Han Chang (韓昌) and an Imperial Court Grandee [光祿大夫] Zhang Meng (張猛) visited the Xiongnu chanyu** (單于) [VHM: chief of the Xiongnu / Huns] in 43 BC. Han and Zhang, together with the chanyu and high officials, climbed the eastern hill by the river Nuo (諾水)***, killed a white horse, and the chanyu using a jinglu knife (徑路刀) and a golden liuli**** (金留犁, said to be a spoon for rice) mixed the horse blood with wine. Then they drank the blood-oath together from the skull of the King of Yuezhi, who had been defeated by the ancestor of the chanyu and whose skull had been made into a goblet. Essentially, this jinglu knife was a holy mixer.
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