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LOT 1499
Greek and Scythian Bronze Arrowhead Collection
CIRCA 5TH-3RD CENTURY B.C.
3/4 - 1 3/8 in. (137 grams total, 20-34 mm).
A mixed group of socketted arrowheads, including some triangular types.
ProvenanceEx London, UK, collection, 1990s.
LiteratureCf. for similar arrowheads Head, D., The Achaemenid Persian Army, Stockport 1992, figs.13j, 16b-c, 32q.
FootnotesIn ancient Greek warfare, archers were mainly employed by Scythians and Cretans. Both used composite bows made of wood, horn, bone and sinew. This explains the great range of Scythian arrowheads found on the Greek sites.
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AUCTIONS:
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Iron Age Celtic Socketted Iron Spearhead
2nd-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
With a slender heart-shaped blade, thick midrib, flared closed socket. 120 grams, 28 cm
From a 1980s collection. Ex North West London gallery. with TimeLine Auctions, 22-27 May 2018, no.1480. Private collection, Suffolk. -
Greek Mauritanian Kingdom Lead Slingshot of King Mastanesosus
Circa 80-49 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved monogram to obverse 'REX·SOS'; Neo-Punic monogram to reverse. 67.3 grams, 40 mm
Acquired on the UK art market, early 2000s. Property of a London, UK, antiquarian.
This remarkable slingshot offers a rare insight into a little-known period in the history of the Kingdom of Mauretania in the first century B.C. The piece can be linked to King Mastanesosus, who is known to have shortened his name to “Sos.” He was the son of Bocchus I (c. 110–80s BC), the ruler who famously betrayed King Jugurtha of Numidia to Sulla and the Roman Republic. The inscription in Latin shows the growing influence of Rome at the time. It may even suggest that Roman slingers were part of Sosus’s army. During this period, Mauretania was already coming under Roman control and influence. Later, Bocchus II, the grandson of Sosus, supported the winning side in Rome’s civil war, and Mauretania became a client kingdom. This eventually led to its full absorption into the Roman Empire after the murder of King Ptolemy, son of Juba, by the emperor Caligula. The reverse of the slingshot shows a monogram in neo-Punic, similar to those found on coins from the same period. This is almost certainly a personal symbol or mark of Sosus himself. The use of both Latin and neo-Punic makes the piece bilingual, which is particularly interesting. -
Celtic Iron Open Socketted Splayed Axehead
Late Hallstatt-Early La Tene Period, circa 450 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Flaring blade with a rectangular-section folded socket. 155 grams, 84 mm
Ex M. Spiegelberg collection, since 1989-1992; thence by descent. Accompanied by a copy of a previous yellow cataloguing slip.
