Sasanian Cut-Glass Vessel

Modelled in the round, depicting the (severed?) head of a Mesopotamian demon, with iconic facial features in relief; hollow with a vent to the neck; produced from a two-piece mould, with a median seam through the facial features. 191 grams, 87 mm



Private collection, Israel. with Holy Land House of Antiquities, Jerusalem, 1980s. Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2001. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12878-241678.

Within traditional Mesopotamian religion, Humbaba was a creature regarded as the guardian of the cedar forest and the brother of Pazuzu. He was represented as a giant who had been raised by the sun god, Shamash. However, this head could also refer to another deity or demon, like one of the heads found in the Kish excavations.

Bell-shaped body with a ribbed loop above, the underside with an incuse image of a horned quadruped; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 9.88 grams, 27 mm



Acquired before 1983. Ex London gallery, 1990s. Private collection, London, UK.

Leaf-shaped blade with raised midrib and a tapering round socket. 128 grams, 27.2 cm



Ex Abelita family collection, 1980s-2000s.

The spear, belonging to type 3 of the Khorasani classification, was used by chariot fighters to strike each other or the enemy infantry from above. Similar specimens with longer sockets were excavated by Negahban in the Amlash area. According to Moorey, sockets as long, if not longer than the blade, are a characteristic of spearheads in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium B.C. A similar spearhead from the Tappeh Sialk has been dated to the 9th-7th century B.C.