Quote:
Originally Posted by cyten
Ive heard from an acquaintance in Turkey that these were referred to as Zeytuni as well. The only thing is, I dont see any Armenian influence in them other than the sun wheel engravings on the stocks and the only two period photos Ive seen were in use by Arab and possibly Kurdish?
I spent a great deal of time in Armenia and never saw anything that looked like these, there is only one muzzleloader in the Yerevan history museum and it is a Shishane.
But I encourage more research!
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Well that specific sun wheel symbol (arevakhatch in Armenian) is quite a dead giveaway, it only really carries a significance for Armenian and Georgian people, where its often found on art, tombstones, and what not.
In terms of the photos, the Kurdish gentleman appears to be a Zeytunian or from the surrounding area, given how his dress is almost identical to that of the Zeytun princes which I posted above. (Speaking of that photo, I am assuming both of them are using Zeytun Acaris, given that you can make out a flintlock on the right guys gun and the butt looks far to flat to be a Shishane or Caucasian Rifle). In terms of the Arab using this weapon, Zeytun is not very far from Syria and other Arab-populated regions, so given how trade between Zeytun and the outside world was well documented, its not hard to assume that some of these weapons passed into the hands of foreigners through trade.
Yes, there are no such examples
on display in Armenia, but there is definitely at least one extant example attributed to Zeytun in the museum's collection, linked in my original post. PS: Its true our National history museum is quite lacking in its collection of firearms, but if you are ever in Armenia again I recommend visiting the History Museum of Yerevan city. There's quite a large collection of Caucasian style flintlocks on display, some that were owned by the former ruling family of Yerevan the Melik-Aghamalyans.
Now, since writing this post I researched a bit further and found some more references to these weapons in a Turkish study about the region, linked here:
https://satemer.sakarya.edu.tr/tr/ic...ytun-isyanlari
Ignoring all the other fluff in this study, it basically details what I already said. Due to its political autonomy, Zeytun was one of the few regions where Armenians could carry arms, and they used this privilege to make their own unique weapon, the Zeytun Acari. Another drawing of them attached, courtesy of this study, attached below
