LOT 0248

Scythian Iron Wide-Bladed Sword with Engraved Decoration

6TH-5TH CENTURY B.C.

26 3/4 in. (603 grams, 68 cm).

Double-edged blade with a triangular point and squared shoulders, vertical ornamental lines on both sides of the blade, strong hilt with an engraved wave-like decoration on one side.

From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13300-257655.

Cf. Cernenko, E.V., The Scythians, 700-300 BC, London, 1983, pp.14ss.; Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg (2003) in Russian, pl. X, nos.39-40; XV, nos.11,21,30-32, for similar blades; Lifanti, O., Shelekhan, O., ‘Swords and swordmen in Greco-Scythian art’ in Peuce Serie Nova, XX, 2022, pp.39-72, figs.6,8,11, for the representation of this kind of sword in Graeco-Scythian art.

From the 7th century B.C., the Scythian sword appears to be a two-edged, almost parallel-sided blade tapering towards the point, about 50-60 cm long, rarely reaching 70 cm in length. The present sword can be considered to be a particular type of Scythian akinakes, with strong influences from the Urartian Caucasian culture. The sword is very similar to an example from the Haimanova Mohyla barrow, and the hilt is similar to an example visible on the relief from the Yubilejnoe settlement (Lifanti-Shelekhan, 2022 figs.8,11), where swords of the Sindo-Maeotian type are depicted.