Archaeological experts often find surprising things in very strange places. Something similar was seen in Germany, where a centuries-old samurai sword was discovered buried in the debris of World War II in the middle of Berlin, which is full of mystery. This rusty sword is said to be made in the 16th century. Experts are giving many possibilities about how this sword reached Germany.
The sword was found beneath the city’s oldest square, the Molkenmarkt, in what used to be a cellar before the building above was destroyed. After the war, the cellar was filled in with rubble from the ruins above, and then it was buried beneath the street when the streets were widened in the 1960s.
Archaeologists excavating the former cellars of the Molkenmarkt have since discovered many military artefacts hastily disposed of at the end of the war. This included a wakizashi, a 16th-century Japanese short sword, buried at least 5,000 miles from its homeland.
Wakizashi sword is considered one of the special samurai swords of Japan. (Symbolic picture: Canva)
Matthias Wemhoff, Berlin state archaeologist and director of the city’s museum, called it an “astonishing” discovery, saying the sword may have been forged at a time when Japan was isolated from the outside world due to its sakoku, or “closed country” policy.
In a report, the Berlin State Museums said experts “can only speculate” about how the sword ended up in Berlin. One theory is that the sword was gifted in 1862 during the Takenouchi Mission, the first Japanese embassy to Europe.
Or it may have been gifted 11 years later during another diplomatic visit, the Iwakura Mission. On both occasions, Kaiser Wilhelm I welcomed dignitaries at the Berliner Schloss, barely half a mile from the burial site.
The sword itself was badly rusted, with a portion of its hilt badly damaged by exposure to heat. Yet the wood of its grip remained intact, as did parts of the cloth and shagreen wrapping.
Tags: Amazing news, Bizarre news, OMG News, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED : September 16, 2024, 07:51 IST
