Luristan Bronze Socketted Axehead

Triangular in profile with rounded shoulders and thick square-section mid-rib running to the tip; short flared neck and square-section tang. 331 grams, 42.3 cm



Ex Abelita family collection, 1990s.

A two-edged leaf-shaped blade and square-section tapering tang, on one side inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform text: 'Eulmaš-šākin-šumi'; and the other side inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform text: 'É-ul-maš-GAR-MU'; reading (property) 'Of Eulmash-shakin-shumi, king of the world'; there are now seventeen known examples compared to fourteen known in 1968. 9.37 grams, 66 mm



UK private collection before 2000. Acquired on the UK art market. Private collection, London, UK. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13145-248307.

King Eulmash-shakin-shumi was the founder of the 6th Dynasty of Babylon, named the Bῑt-Bazi Dynasty after the Kassite tribal group from which its leaders were drawn. They were possibly situated near the juncture of the Diyala River and the Tigris River. There are discrepancies in the information surviving about his reign; whilst the Dynastic Chronicle states that he ruled for fourteen years, the King List A suggests a rule of seventeen years. The events leading to the king's rise to power unfolded in the context of the chaotic close of the Second Sealand Dynasty, and in the midst of the turmoil inflicted by the famine-induced Aramean migrations. During this period, Eulmaš-šākin-šumi appears to have seized the throne and possibly moved his capital to Kar-Marduk, a hitherto unknown location, and easily defensible. Upon his death, King Eulmash-shakin-shumi was buried in the Palace of Kar-Marduk, the dynastic capital. A 9th century stele relating to temple endowments at Sippar relates that the king restored food offerings to Shamash, and entrusted a garden plot in a part of Babylon known as the 'New City' to the then high priest there. The weapons unearthed with inscriptions such as the one offered here were likely votive, as opposed to military pieces.

A British trooper's backsword comprising a slightly curved single-edged blade with a deep fuller to each face, iron hilt with D-shaped pierced guard, leather-covered grip and bulb pommel; stamped on one face of the blade at the ricasso with 'WD' and broad arrow, crown over 'S12', crown over 'E12 YC' and to the other face '/86' over 'Baum & Co. [Sol]ingen'; scabbard with cast frog with securing srewws and stamped '/88 WD' and arrow; integral reinforced chape. 1.76 kg, 103.5 cm



From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.