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LOT 1432
Luristan Bronze Arrowhead Group
13TH-6TH CENTURY B.C.
3 - 5 3/8 in. (220 grams total, 7.5-13.6 cm).
Mainly tanged examples of barbed and leaf-shaped types. [10]
ProvenanceAcquired 1990s.
From the collection of a late Japanese weaponry collector.
See Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,1988, pp.289ff. nos.396,398-400,410,416, for similar arrowheads; Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, items 449, 467, for types.
FootnotesAlthough some of them are different in shape, these arrowheads are apparently related types of a polythetic group. Two basic deltoid forms are represented: one has a sharp, flat blade, the ends of which extend to form wings or barbs, and a prominent midrib extending into a long tang that often has a stop; the blade shape varies from deltoid to more manifestly triangular. The other form has no barbs, but it has a prominent midrib extending to the tang, and a narrow leaf-shaped blade.
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Viking Age Iron Long Bearded Axehead
Circa 10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
With broad curved blade and short spur beneath the chin, narrow neck, deep socket with extended edge to the reverse. 740 grams, 18 cm
From the collection of a Californian, USA, gentleman, dating back to the late 1960s.
The axe seems to be a variation of type IV of the Kirpichnikov classification of the Eastern Rus Axes typology. These axes appeared in the 10th century, and continued in the 10th-11th century. -
Hellenistic Rhodian Lead Slingshot with Scorpion
3rd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Lentoid-section and depicting a stylised scorpion to one side and inscription 'ΚΑΛΑ' on the other. 26 grams, 31 mm
Ex Cummings collection, UK, 1990s.
Together with the Balearic slingers, Rhodian slingers were considered to be the best of the Hellenistic world, and they were also used in the Roman army. The slingshots with an image of a scorpion on one side and with an inscription ΚΑΛΑ on the other are believed to originate from the Island of Rhodes. On these sling bullets ΚΑΛΑ should be translated as “nice things.” Of course, ironically, these “nice things” were designed to kill enemies and to sting like a scorpion, and the message of those with the image of a scorpion could be understood, as proposed ny M. Manov and N. Torbov, as: “nice things sting like a scorpion.” -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Piriform body with domed filler-hole, shoulders decorated with row of geometric patterns, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 484 grams, 11.8 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.
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.
