Details

LOT 1357

Western Asiatic Stone Macehead

3RD MILLENNIUM B.C.

3 1/4 in. (310 grams, 83 mm).

With plain globular body and circular short shaft.

Provenance

Ex London, UK, collection, 1990-2000s.

Literature

See Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, pl.XXX, no.47, mace of a deity, detail of the image on the “Stela of Kites” Eanatuma, Ngirsu, mid-3rd millennium B.C.

Footnotes

The mace in the Middle East was of great importance, and widely used in fighting activities at the end of the 4th millennium B.C. Many maces of simple spherical or pear-shaped profile have been found there, and they were quickly utilised by the military commanders as symbol of power and rank; limestone maces are still attested in the Marlik culture of 14th-10th century B.C.