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LOT 1625
Western Asiatic Bronze Dagger Group
2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
8 1/8 - 13 1/4 in. (358 grams total, 20.7-33.5 cm).
With a narrow pointed blade and wide shallow raised flange to the centre, straight sides, well marked shoulders with narrow tang, one rivet hole still preserved in one specimen. [3]
ProvenanceAcquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
See Maxwell-Hyslop, R., 'Daggers and swords in Western Asia: a Study from Prehistoric Times to 600BC,' in Iraq, Volume 8, 1946, pp.1-65, pl.II, type 12.
FootnotesThe type was technically more advanced than previous types of blades in the Near East, owing to the shape of the weapon, with its slightly convex sides widening out near the point, which combined the advantages of the leaf-shaped and straight-sided forms. This kind of dagger was used in the early second millennium in Mesopotamia and in Syria, and as late as the mid-first millennium in Luristan.
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AUCTIONS:
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Medieval Bronze Handled Iron Dagger with Raven
11th-14th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £338
Comprising a long single-edged blade with swept tip, lentoid-section hilt with long shoulder, ribbed and pelletted detailing to upper grip and openwork pommel formed as a perching raven. 157 grams, 30 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato. -
Anglo-Zulu War 'Battle of Khambula' Carved Stone Smoking Pipe Head
29 March 1879 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £117
Columnar pipe bowl with waisted profile. 236 grams, 74 mm
Found by Zulu natives, Khambula, South Africa, 1990s-early 2000s. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK, formed since 1985. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Following defeats by the Zulu army at Isandlwana and Hiobane, the British were desperate for a victory, which they secured at Khambula. -
Byzantine 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
A large piriform missile with domed filler-hole, a band of impressed annulets to the shoulder and circumferential bands to the lowed body, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 957 grams, 15.2 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s onwards. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Cf. Arendt, W. I., Granaten des 13-14. Jahrhunderts, die an der Wolga gefunden sind, Zeitschrift fur Historische Waffen-und Kostumkunde, 11 (1926-8), p.42; cf. Arendt, W., Die Spharisch-konischen Gefäße aus Gebranntem Ton, ibid; cf. Ayalon, D., Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom, London, 1956, p.16. Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form.
