Details

LOT 0767

Western Asiatic Axehead of King Shutruk-Nahhunte

AKKADIAN, 1185-1155 BC

8 1/2" (380 grams, 21.5cm).

A bronze axehead with tubular socket, four raised ribs extending to a rear 'comb', thickened borders to the blade with swept underside; two lines of Akkadian cuneiform text to one face within a frame reading "ša EŠŠ šu-ut-ru-uk/nah-hu-un-te" i.e. “(property) of King Shutruk-Nahhunte”.

Provenance

Private collection, London, UK; formerly with Persepolis Gallery, Mayfair, London, UK; in the 1980s.

Literature

Cf. Godard, F. The Art of Iran, London, 1965, plate 13 for type.

Footnotes

Shutruk-Nahhunte (or Šutruk-Nakhunte) was ruler of Elam from about 1185 to 1155 BC, the second king of the Shutrukid Dynasty. He was married to the daughter of Meli-Šipak, a Kassite ruler. In his reign, Elam defeated the Kassites and established a short-lived Elamite Empire, which was later conquered by Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon, in 1120 BC.
A bronze dagger with the same inscription was published by F. Vallat, in CUSAS 17 (Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schoyen Collection. 2011), no. 90.
Ceremonial axe-heads, daggers and other weapons with royal inscriptions are often found in Luristan burials.

CONDITION