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LOT 1536
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
12TH-11TH CENTURY B.C.
13 1/4 in. (285 grams, 33.5 cm).
With broad leaf-shaped blade and tapering square-section tang, flanged neck.
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, p.243, item 279, p.630.
FootnotesThe weapon belongs to type I of the Khorasani classification. Similar weapons have been excavated in Marlilk by Professor Negahban and dated by Stutzinger to the late 13th-early 12th century B.C.
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AUCTIONS:
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Luristan Bronze Dagger
12th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
The blade with raised central shallow rib and with separated crescent quillon, fitted with an integral rectangular-section lentoid pommel. 165 grams, 30.5 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 men who built the gravestones found in Luristan in the Middle Bronze Age, favoured offensive weaponry: bow, dagger, sword, spear, and javelin. The oldest daggers consisted of a blade and a wooden hilt. The blades were cast together with the tang and regularly featured a groove in the middle. Over time, during the Late Bronze Age, in addition to hilts filled with organic material, the daggers in which the hilt was cast in one piece with the blade developed. -
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. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
A large piriform missile with raised lugs and impressed circle-and-dot motifs, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 708 grams, 16 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. 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'. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
