Sabretache Plates

Sabretaches were characteristic pieces of attire in the Hungarian Conquest period. Men of arms wore them on their weapon belts keeping their everyday belongings there. Typically, sabretaches were made of leather, their cover decorated with bronze or gilded silver mounts or even a whole precious metal plate. Some archaeologists assume sabretache plates functioned as insignia of high-ranking dignitaries serving the ruler and his family. Only a few dozen of this exquisite 10th century artefacts are known today, most of them have come to light from the region of the River Upper-Tisza, Transdanubia and Upper Hungary (now part of Slovakia). Our volume is comprised of a catalogue of the Hungarian National Museum's 2022 exhibition Sabretache plates - Treasures of the Hungarian Conquerors of the Carpathian Basin as well as comprehensive studies on the finds. Authors outline the historical and social context of sabretache plates, reconstruct the time span, the way of their use together with their regional occurrence, artistic motifs and parallels. A separate essay is dedicated to the two newest, most sensational finds turned up in January and February 2022 at the excavation of Páty-Malomdűlő.