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LOT 1087
Volga-Ural Nomad Sabre
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
35 in. (725 grams, 89 cm).
An iron single-edged sabre with slightly curving blade showing battle nicks, evidence of a possible iron extension together with a tongue to the side of the blade, beneath the straight guard. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceAcquired 1971-1972.
From the collection of the vendor's father.
Property of a London, UK, collector.
Accompanied by an academic report by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Cf. similar specimens in Харламов, П.В., ‘Weapons complex of the Nomadic tribes of the Volga-Ural Region in the 9th -11th Centuries (in Russian)’ in Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes, Vol. I, Kazan, 2017, pp.364-379, esp.figs.6, 14; Lebedinsky, I., De l’epée scythe au sabre mongol, Paris, 2008, pp.172ff.; for discussion on the sabres see Pletneva, S.A., Antiquities of black hoods (in Russian) SAI. Issue, E1-19, Moscow, 1973; Evglevsky, A.V., Potemkina, T.M., ‘Eastern European late nomadic sabers’ in Evglevsky, A.V., European Steppes in the Middle Ages, Vol.1, Donetsk, 2002, pp.291-336.
FootnotesVarious sabres of similar typology were found in a complex of medieval nomad weapons in archaeological excavations in the steppe and forest-steppe zone of the Volga-Ural region; chronologically, they were dated to the 9th-11th centuries.
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Luristan Mixed Blade Group
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Heniochi Dagger with Beast Heads
4th-2nd century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
A short iron dagger with triangular blade, short straight guard surmounted by a bronze pommel characterised by twinned beast heads projecting from each side; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 170 grams, 28 cm (753 grams total, 39 cm high including stand)
Acquired 1971-1972. From the collection of the vendor's father. Property of a London, UK, collector.
The tribe of the Heniochs, according to Artemidorus of Ephesus, existed during the 5th-1st century B.C., on the Black Sea littoral that is part of present-day Abkhazia. Aristotle describes the Heniochi as a group of people "ready enough to kill and eat men." The dagger shows similarities with the pommel of a sword from Akhul Abaa grave 4 with twinned beast heads. These weapons of subtype I, according to the classification of Gamkrelidze-Shatberashvili-Pirtskhalava-Charkviani, were popular not only in Abkhazia, but throughout the territory of west Georgia during the 4th-1st century B.C.
