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LOT 1441
Luristan Long Sword with Handle
CIRCA 9TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.
30 in. (809 grams, 76.3 cm).
With a slender double-edged blade and a narrow handle with conical pommel.
ProvenanceEx Deutsch Auctioneers, Vienna, 25 February 2020, no.7.
with Galerie Rhéa, Zurich, Switzerland.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
See Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, pl.VI, no.47, XIV, no.44.
FootnotesThe Luri people produced a quantity of fine metalwork, which according to Dr Khorasani, could be due to a settled period which arose as a result of the defeat of the Elamites by the Babylonians, leaving the Luristani people in relative peace for a period of time after 1200 BC. According to Khorasani, 'A culture of innovation and experimentation flourished, and the repertoire of the Luristan smiths expanded in the period between 1150–1050 BC.'
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AUCTIONS:
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Large Luristan Socketted Bronze Adze
2nd-early 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
An adze-axe head with central shaft hole and curved blades, flange to socket. 570 grams, 16.5 cm
Acquired in the 1990s. 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 adze-axe was a fundamental weapon of many Bronze Age cultures around the world. The form lends itself to dual purposes - for war and peace. As a tool, it functions in fabricating wood and as a weapon, its heavy mass and compact form make it a deadly striking and chopping weapon, even able to defeat light armour. -
Luristan Iron Socketted Axehead
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Narrow blade with rounded cutting edge, rectangular-section neck and round socket with extension below; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 259 grams, 17.5 cm (435 grams total, 20.5 cm wide including stand)
Ex London, UK, gallery, 1990s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Roman Legion XIII 'Battle of Munda' Lead Slingshot
1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £221
Fusiform with reserved legend 'LXIII' (for LEGIO XIII = 13th Legion). 32.6 grams, 36 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 Munda (or Monda) 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).
