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LOT 1549
Large North-West Persian Bronze Dirk
EARLY 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
15 5/8 in. (217 grams, 39.7 cm).
Slender blade with raised midrib and a short tang.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1990s.
LiteratureCf.Christie’s, The Art of Warfare, the Axel Guttmann collection, Part I, Wednesday 6 November 2002, London, p.34, no.31, for a similar blade.
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Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια, where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.
