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LOT 1495
Massive Amlash Bronze Spearhead Blade
13TH-12TH CENTURY B.C.
16 3/4 in. (370 grams, 42.5 cm).
With large ovate blade, broad midrib, rounded shoulders and rectangular-section tang with bent tip ending with a button.
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.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
See Khorasani M.M., Arms and Armour from Iran. The Bronze Age to the End of the Qajar Period, Tübingen, 2006, item 278, for type.
FootnotesThe massive spearhead belongs to type 1 of the Khorasani classification. Similar excavated examples from Marlik attest the use of such spearheads with bent tang in the area, and Stutzinger dated such weapons to 1200-1100 B.C. The type was the evolution of a typology which began much earlier in Mesopotamia and the fertile crescent, the type 4 of the Stronach classification, with straight square-section tang, usually thickened at the base with a button tang.
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Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
Piriform in profile with narrow point and domed mouth; the body decorated with regularly arranged annulets and concentric circles; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 510 grams, 11.9 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.
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. -
Luristan Bronze Spearhead
Early 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £124
Having foliate blade with central rib and slender shoulders, short rectangular shaft and tang with a bent end. 412 grams, 42.5 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 lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
A number of similar blades, some considered to be spearheads and others to be daggers, all with bent tang, derived from Tepe Hissar Culture III. Some of them, like our specimen, have a button terminal, some others have a plain, pointed terminal. The general dating of these specimens is fixed to the early 2nd millennium B.C. -
Viking Silver Inlaid Iron Weight
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Polyhedral weight bearing Insular Style inlaid decoration in the form of serpentine creatures in tondos, on a silver inlaid background. 176 grams, 38 mm
Private collection formed in Europe in the 1980s. Westminster collection, central London, UK. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
These weights were adopted by the Vikings from Middle Eastern examples and appear to have become a typical weight standard for traders. They are, in archaeology, an important form of evidence for the Viking commerce. Many of them, like those found in Ireland and of Arabic type, suggest a standardised system of weights in different areas.
