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LOT 1561
North-West Persian Bronze Blade
2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
14 5/8 in. (310 grams, 37.2 cm).
Long blade with a pronounced mid-rib, openwork tubular hilt, crescentic guard.
ProvenanceEx Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.
LiteratureCf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 2, London, 2004, item 36, p.33.
FootnotesIn these daggers, the hilts were cast in the lost wax process, while the blades were cast in a mould. The openwork was cast in the original wax, and after casting was inlaid with a cream-coloured stone, which survives in some examples.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Western Asiatic Sword Blade with Blood Channels
2nd-1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £316
With corrugated raised midrib extending to a short tang, fullers with curved ends extending to the shoulders. 345 grams, 47.5 cm
Ex Abelita family collection, 1990s. -
Babylonian Bronze Arrow Owned by Eulmas-sakin-sumi, King of Babylon
Late Middle Babylonian Period, 1004-988 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £9,100
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. -
Thracian Iron Dagger
Circa 5th-1st century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,430
Single-edged curving upper blade, rectangular guard with incised saltire, segmented grip and upper guard fixed with pins, loop finial; rhomphaia type. 276 grams, 34.7 cm
Ex North American collection, 1970s.
