North-West Persian Bronze Short Sword Blade with Blood Channels

LATE 2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.

18 3/4 in. (347 grams, 47.5 cm).

Leaf-shaped with short rectangular tang, corrugated midrib with five grooves extending almost to the tip and flared at the rounded shoulders.

Provenance

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Literature

Cf. Christie's, The Axel Guttmann Collection of Ancient Arms and Armour, part 2, London, 2004, item 36, p.33.

Footnotes

The metalworking techniques used in making bronze weapons in early Iran were very complex. Surfaces were often finished in repoussé work, and some of the weapons were chased, others engraved. The function of the ridges here was not only decorative, but principally to reduce suction and thus allow the blade to be withdrawn speedily. The ruling elites of warrior horsemen were buried in the graves with their weapons and horses.

CONDITION

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