Loading, please wait...
Details
LOT 1222
Western Asiatic Limestone Mortar
1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.
5 1/4 in. (4.85 kg, 13 cm).
With short columnar base and bulbous upper body, broad rim with pouring lip. [No Reserve]
Provenance
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
Literature
Cf. Squitieri. A., Eitam, D. (ed.), Stone tools in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Ground stone tools, rock-cut installations and stone vessels from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, Oxford, 2019, pp. 237-238, and 275, for examples of similar type.
Footnotes
The later (2nd -3rd century A.D.) Rabbinic tradition emphasised the difference between the permanent mortar (makhtesh kevua) and the movable one (makhtesh metaltelet), with the first being automatically sold with the house, but the second sold only if expressly stated by the vendor. This form of movable mortar was common in the Levant throughout the second half of the 1st millennium B.C.
CONDITIONVETTING:
TimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
TimeLine is a leading auction house specialising in antiquities, ancient art, collectables, natural history, coins, medals, and books. Our auctions offer museums, collectors, historians, and enthusiasts the opportunity to acquire unique and historically significant pieces.
RELATED LOTS
-
Western Asiatic Bronze Torc
1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £33
Comprising a tapering round-section body with hooked terminals. 53 grams, 14.8 cm
UK private collection before 2000. On the UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. -
Trans Jordan Terracotta Bowl
Early Bronze Age I, 3rd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
Of squat profile with slightly chamfered rim. 1.06 kg, 21.5 cm wide
From an important collection of terracotta pre 1988, London and Geneva. -
Syro-Hittite Silver Amulet
Circa 14th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £2,080
Amulet of a deity in human form wearing a pointed cap and pleated kilt, hands placed on the chest supporting coiled serpent (or staff), ledge to rear; possibly Tarḫunna, the Hittite weather-god. 3.9 grams, 29 mm
From the Bavarian private collection of F.U., Germany, before 2000. Acquired Gorny & Mosch, 17 June 2015, lot 246. Property of a French collector. Accompanied by a copy of the relevant Gorny & Mosch catalogue pages. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by a search certificate number no.12123-214885.
The proper name of the weather god is not known, as it was expressed with an ideogram in the texts; his name was probably Tarhunna, from Hattic Taru. Among the Luwians he was called Datta and Tarhunt. The Hittite province of Tarhuntassa, south of the heartland of the Hittite Empire, took its name from the latter: 'land of the weather god'.