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Details
LOT 1453
Canaanite 'Window' Bronze Axehead
2100-1800 B.C.
4 3/8 in. (142 grams, 11 cm).
Curving blade with two large 'eye-shaped' openings, cylindrical socket.
Provenance
Acquired in the mid 1980s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Miron, E., Axes and Adzes from Canaan, Stuttgart, 1992, cat.no.231, p.53, pl.15; Gernez, G., L’armament en métal au Proche et Moyen-Orient: des origines a 1750 av. J.C., Paris, 2007, p.190, fig.2.42, type H4.
Footnotes
The ‘window’ axes have several morphological characteristics. The blade, semi-circular or elongated in shape, always ended in a rounded edge. In this type the blade was flat in section. It included two openings at its base—windows—of varying width, circular or oval. The haft consisted of a collar as wide as the blade. The weapon was threaded into an elongated wooden handle, often curved at its base, of oval section, with a differential width promoting the strength of the haft. It was thus wedged, and a rivet passed through the handle, just above the axe, serving as a stop.
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