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The Admont Bible, Salzburg, 12th century

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien. Cod. ser. nov. 2701
Battle of Mount Gilboa

Izraeliták és filiszteusok harca.
Israelites and Philistines fight.

A larger image of the Battle of Mount Gilboa, The Admont Bible, Salzburg, 12th century

Saul és Jonathán halála
Death of Saul and Jonathan.
f. 124r
Image is +30 brightness.
Source: Admonti Biblia, National Széchényi Library



1 Samuel 31
The Death of Saul and His Sons
Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and many fell on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard upon Saul; the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by them. 4 Then Saul said to his armour-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and thrust me through, and make sport of me.’ But his armour-bearer was unwilling; for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5 When his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 So Saul and his three sons and his armour-bearer and all his men died together on the same day.
(1 Samuel 31:1-6)



Referenced on p.313, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle

835 Gebhard Bible, Hungary or Germany, mid-12th century (Church of St Petrus, Csatar; after Gerevich)
A - Israelites; B-D - Philistines; E - King Saul; F-H - Israelites. The Gebhard Bible seems to reflect a small degree of Byzantine influence. This is most apparent in the archaized armour of some Philistines (C and D), which seems to include splinted upper-arm defences. These might be dismissed as fanciful were they not to appear again in a later and generally more reliable Hungarian manuscript (fig.888 [Hungarian National Chronicle, c.1360 (National Széchényi Library, Ms. Clmae 404, Budapest Hungary)]). The Gebhard Bible otherwise shows standard European equipment of conical helmets with nasals (B, F and G), long-sleeved hauberk (A, B, E, G and H), kite-shaped shields with or without large decorative bosses (B, D, E and H), straight, barely tapering swords with straight quillons (C, D, G and H), and a couched lance with a gonfanon (A). The only slightly unusual features are a number of helmets, both conical and round, which appear to be of two-piece construction joined along a comb with broad rim band (A, D and H). Such helmets are, of course, also known elsewhere in 12th century Western Europe.

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Other examples of the same biblical scene:
Death of Saul at the Battle of Mount Gilboa in the 11th century Roda Bible, Spain
King Saul falls on his sword in the Worms Bible, Germany, c.1148
Death of Saul at the Battle of Mount Gilboa in the 12th century Winchester Bible, England,
Death of Saul at the Battle of Mount Gilboa in the Navarre Picture Bible, Pamplona, Spain, 1197AD
Death of Saul at the Battle of Mount Gilboa in The Morgan Crusader Bible of Louis IX or Maciejowski Bible or The Bible of Shah Abbas