Mongolia is Awesome: Ogedei's Secret

At the National History Museum of Mongolia yesterday, I came across quite a few interesting things (hopefully to be posted about later), but one was especially Awesome.

There are tons of reasons why the Mongol Horde had such success in battle, but one thing that kept them in tip-top shape was a bit more… inconspicuous. Apparently, underneath their chain mail (some of which was shown in the exhibit), they wore undergarments made of Chinese silk. Because silk is so tightly woven, an arrow losing speed is less likely to penetrate the fabric, so the silk works as a luxurious, soft, bulletproof vest. (Archers out there might be familiar with this idea, seen when a weak shot bounces off the cloth of a target rather than sticking in it.) This isn’t the point, though, as much as its medical advantage. Even when the point of an arrow still gets through the chain mail and silk, the silk decreases the chance that the barbs will enter the would (sources differ as to how--either by slowing its trajectory, entering the wound with the arrow, or, most likely, not ripping widely enough to allow the barbs to enter). During removal of the arrow, barbs cause a lot of damage (just picture it), so silk mitigates that damage and wounds are less likely to get infected. A medic treating a Mongol in silk would grip the fabric to pull the arrow out, leaving a cleaner wound.

So, yeah, even a Mongol’s drawers were ready for a fight.