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The scythed chariot was a modified war chariot. The blades extended horizontally for about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) to each side of the wheels. The Greek general Xenophon (430−354 BC), an eyewitness at the battle of Cunaxa, tells of them: "These had thin scythes extending at an angle from the axles and also under the driver's seat, turned toward the ground".
A war scythe or military scythe is a form of polearm with a curving single-edged blade with the cutting edge on the concave side of the blade. Its blade bears a superficial resemblance to that of an agricultural scythe from which it is likely to have evolved, but the war scythe is otherwise unrelated to agricultural tools and is a purpose-built ...
The main blade is 12–14 in (30–36 cm) long [I have not found any sources supporting this measurement, the spetum shown in the image's head is measured at 46 in (118.1 cm) meaning the blade is only marginally shorter than 46 inches], and the side blades are only about half that length and are set at acute angles.
Mowing with a scythe is a skilled task that takes time to learn fully. Long-bladed scythes, typically around 90 centimetres (35 in) (such as in the example below) and suitable for mowing grass or wheat, are harder to use at first; consequently, beginners usually start on shorter blades, generally 70 centimetres (28 in) or less.
In 1655, Jenckes was granted a 7-year patent for an improved scythe "for the more speedy cutting of grass." The European scythe had a straight snath (long wooden shaft) and the scythe blade was short and thick, which reduced its efficiency. The Jenckes scythe had a double-curved snath and the scythe blade was longer, thinner, and lightweight.
For example, the word "halberd" is also used to translate the Chinese ji and also a range of medieval Scandinavian weapons as described in sagas, such as the atgeir. As well, all polearms developed from three early tools (the axe , the scythe , and the knife ) and one weapon, the spear .
Bills have been found in Frankish graves from the Merovingian period. [ 1 ] George Silver , writing in 1599, stated that the black bill should be 5 or 6 feet (1.5 or 1.8 m) long, while the forest bill should be 8 or 9 feet (2.4 or 2.7 m).
The law of cosines, in geometric form, can be found as propositions II.12–13 in Euclid's Elements (c. 300 BC), [54] but was not used for the solution of triangles per se. Medieval Islamic mathematicians developed a method for finding the third side of an arbitrary triangle given two sides and the included angle based on the same concept but ...