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LOT 1572
Luristan Bronze Dirk
10TH CENTURY B.C.
13 3/8 in. (228 grams, 34 cm).
A short sword with lentoid-section triangular blade, rhomboid guard, hilt with later organic filling to each face.
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Khorasani, M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, item 9, for type.
FootnotesThe type Dirk I according to the classification of Medvedskaya is common among dirks and daggers attributed to Luristan. The hilt is flanged and accepts inlays remnants of organic material on the handle. There are also two angular indentations on each side of the guard.
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AUCTIONS:
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Roman Legion XIII 'Battle of Munda' Lead Slingshot
1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £650
Fusiform with reserved legend 'LXIII' (for LEGIO XIII = 13th Legion). 50.3 grams, 41 mm
Acquired on the UK art market. Property of a gentleman collector. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The shot (Völling type 1C) is marked with the abbreviated name of Legion XIII, and was probably used at the Battle of Monda (or Munda) against Julius Caesar, 17th March 45 B.C., or against the sons of Pompey, because both the generals (Pompey sons and Caesar) had in their army a Legio with the numeral XIII on that day. Interestingly, other glandes of the same typology from the same battlefield bear the name of Pompey, so that it is much possible that the glans belongs to the Legio XIII of Pompey, who was destroyed during the battle and whose survivors were massacred among the 22,000 defenders of Cordoba by the troops of Caesar (D'Amato, 2021, pp.421 and 424). The projectiles were made of different materials: lead (glandes) or in pottery or stone (lapides missiles). -
Luristan Bronze Sword
Late 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
With solid cast hilt and penannular guard, a massive grip with a later mushroom pommel, blade with central flat midrib tapering to a sharp tip. 967 grams, 52.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This sword is typical of the North-Western Iranian regions at the end of 2nd millennium B.C. Corresponding specimens found in Amarlu or other localities (Gheshlag Mazandaran Province) show that they were fitted with hollow-cast bronze mushroom pommels. The hilt was solid cast with penannular guard, and the blade was usually multi-fullered, but the specimen from Northern Iran published by Khorasani is fitted with a single fuller like our sword. -
Western Asiatic Integral Hilted Bronze Short Sword
Late 3rd-2nd millennium B.C.Estimate: £250 - 350 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £130
With a broad, lentoid-section flat blade, rounded tip, sloping sides, well marked shoulders with wide but short tang. 713 grams, 43.5 cm
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
The sword finds similarity with a one from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. This is the most primitive form of dagger, consisting of a simple, pointed blade having slightly convex outline shoulders sloping to a short tang which has no rivets, and was probably hafted to wood with bitumen.
