Bactrian Style Carved Lapis Lazuli and Other Bead Necklace String

Comprising: two large tanged arrowheads, mainly of triangular type with mid-rib; two arrowheads with barbed shoulders, midrib and a stop on the blade with a long tang. 122 grams total, 12.7-15 cm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex Abelita family collection.

One category of the represented arrowheads has a sharp blade, the ends of which extend to form wings or barbs, and a prominent midrib extending into a long tang that has a stop; the blade shape varies from deltoid to more triangular. The other form has no barbs, but it has a prominent midrib extending to the tang, and a rhomboid or tringular blade. Godard claimed that both types of heads, barbed and not barbed, came from Luristan.

Columnar in form with discoid base supporting a pair of stylised head with almond-shaped eyes, button nose, prominent elongated chin and triangular lobes; suspension loop to the top. 25.80 grams, 36 mm



Ex Mayfair, London, UK, collection, 1979-1990s. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.13072-249423.

Pazuzu was an Assyrian and Babylonian demonic god who was represented with a canine head, scaly body, a snake-headed penis, the talons of a bird, and usually four wings. He is often regarded as an evil underworld demon, but he seems also to have played a beneficent role as a protector against pestilential winds; a bronze figure of Pazuzu in the Louvre, (accession number MNB 467) is inscribed, ‘I am Pazuzu, son of Hanpa, king of the evil spirits of the air which issues violently from mountains, causing much havoc.’ His close association with Lamashtu, a fierce demon goddess responsible for child mortality, resulted in him being used to counter her powers and send her back to the underworld. Amulets of Pazuzu were positioned in dwellings to act as protective barriers to evil powers, or were often in the form of just a head, as in this example, and were hung around the necks of pregnant women. Pazuzu is popularly known today as the demon from the 1973 film ‘The Exorcist’.

Each carved in the round as a duck with its head laid back along its spine. 6.67 grams total, 17-22 mm



Private collection, Israel. with Holy Land House of Antiquities, Jerusalem, 1990s. Private European collection, acquired from the above in 2001.