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Details
LOT 1395
Greek Lead Slingshot
3RD-1ST CENTURY B.C.
1 1/4 in. (32.8 grams, 30 mm).
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved legend 'ΦIΛONOC = of Philon (name)'; scorpion on the other side. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired on the German art market before 2000.
Private collection, Munich, Germany.
Literature
Cf. Manov, M., Torbov, N., 'Inscribed Lead Sling Bullets with the name of Alexander the Great and with other names and symbols found in Thrace' in Archaeologia Bulgarica, XX, 2, pp.29-43, fig.23, for similar.
Footnotes
On these sling bullets the image of a scorpion could be understood to depict an action ‘sting like a scorpion’. The name of Filon can be connected with a military commander.
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The leaden bullets, which were thrown from slings, were called in Greek Molivdainai (μολύβδαιναι), and in Latin glandes; the former indicating the material ‘lead’, the latter the shape ‘acorns’. These bullets, were cast in a mould and bore letters or devices, or both, on two sides or on only one. In form they were more like an almond than an acorn, but many are pointed at both ends; in size, they are generally about one inch and a half in maximum length, and under one inch in maximum width.
