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Details
LOT 1573
Ethiopian Coptic Iron Halberd
15TH-17TH CENTURY A.D.
9 1/8 in. (308 grams, 23.2 cm).
Single-edged crescent-shaped blade equipped with two curved pins with holes for attachment to a wooden shaft. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Ex USA private collection, 1970s-1990s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Literature
See similar type in Flinders Petrie, W., Tools and Weapons, British School of Archaeology in Egypt and Egyptian Research Account 22nd Year, 1916, UC, 1917, pl.VIII, no.189.
Footnotes
The blade belongs to the category of crock-backed blades, as classified by Flinders Petrie. More ancient fine Coptic examples are engraved with zigzag lines, a cross, fishes, and vine pattern. The iron halberd, viii, may be of some later date. The iconography of the medieval churches in Ethiopia suggest that these weapons were used as ceremonial halberds, and worn by guardsmen of rulers and bishops. A form similar to these halberds was used as a hoe in South Africa.
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