Anatolian 'Barbed and Tanged' Arrowhead. Copper alloy, 3.14 grams, 35.13 mm. Circa 1st Millennium B.C. A flat arrowhead with a curving barbs tapering at sharp points to prevent withdrawal. It has a raised mid rid running the length of the arrowhead with two smaller tangs protruding out. Below is a flat tang to keep it attached to the wooden shaft Ref: No similar examples in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Extremely Fine condition.

Anatolian 'Barbed and Tanged' Arrowhead. Copper alloy, 3.14 grams, 35.13 mm. Circa 1st Millennium B.C. A flat arrowhead with a curving barbs tapering at sharp points to prevent withdrawal. It has a raised mid rid running the length of the arrowhead with two smaller tangs protruding out. Below is a flat tang to keep it attached to the wooden shaft Ref: No similar examples in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Extremely Fine condition.

MASSIVE Ancient Hittite 'Barbed' Arrowhead. Copper alloy, 32.62 grams, 110.23 mm. 1400 - 1000 B.C. A quality arrowhead with a triangular blade and a raised mid-rib to help penetration that runs the length of the blade and terminates at the tang, it has two large pointed barbs to prevent removal of the arrow. Ref: Similar to B6 in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Very Fine condition.

MASSIVE Ancient Hittite 'Barbed' Arrowhead. Copper alloy, 32.62 grams, 110.23 mm. 1400 - 1000 B.C. A quality arrowhead with a triangular blade and a raised mid-rib to help penetration that runs the length of the blade and terminates at the tang, it has two large pointed barbs to prevent removal of the arrow. Ref: Similar to B6 in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Very Fine condition.

RARE Ancient Anatolian 'Barbed and Socketed' Arrowhead. Copper alloy, 5.05 grams, 43.88 mm. Circa 1st Millennium B.C. A bi convex arrowhead with well pronounced barbs to prevent withdrawal, below is a tapering tang, which would have kept it attached to the wooden shaft. No socketed examples in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Ref: Similar to B18 in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Extremely Fine condition.

RARE Ancient Anatolian 'Barbed and Socketed' Arrowhead. Copper alloy, 5.05 grams, 43.88 mm. Circa 1st Millennium B.C. A bi convex arrowhead with well pronounced barbs to prevent withdrawal, below is a tapering tang, which would have kept it attached to the wooden shaft. No socketed examples in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Ref: Similar to B18 in A Fine Collection of Ancient and Medieval Arrowhead and Crossbow Bolts by Alan Cherry. Extremely Fine condition.

One of the great crossroads of ancient civilizations is Anatolia. In about 2000 B.C. Asia Minor was in the hands of the Hittites, who migrated from the area east of the Black Sea. Their civilization rivaled that of the Egyptians and Babylonians. In the 12th century B.C. their empire fell to the Assyrians. Small seaboard states grew up, only to fall to the Greeks, who colonized the entire coast in about the 8th century B.C. According to legend, they first laid siege to the city-state of Troy during the Trojan War. In 560 B.C. Croesus mounted the throne of Lydia in Asia Minor and soon brought all the Greek colonies under his rule. Croesus was overthrown by Cyrus the Great of Persia. Two hundred years later Alexander the Great again spread Greek rule over the peninsula.

Luristan 'Persian-type' Lance Point. Bronze, 240 grams, 17.8 inches. Circa 1200 B.C. A large spear-shaped Lance point dating back to the Persian Period in the first millennium B.C. The blade measures at 10.7 inches and is triangular in shape and long and tapered. The socket continues to form a single triangular central blood ridge which slopes downwards as it meets the point. Very Fine condition.

Luristan 'Persian-type' Lance Point. Bronze, 240 grams, 17.8 inches. Circa 1200 B.C. A large spear-shaped Lance point dating back to the Persian Period in the first millennium B.C. The blade measures at 10.7 inches and is triangular in shape and long and tapered. The socket continues to form a single triangular central blood ridge which slopes downwards as it meets the point. Very Fine condition.

The term Luristan references artefacts made by a society of semi-nomadic people that once lived in the mountainous region of Northwest Iran. Little is known of this ancient culture but the most impressive traces are that of the bronze artefacts they left behind. These include highly decorative equipment for their horses, ceremonial containers and weapons ranging from simple utilitarian pieces on up to elaborate masterpieces of warfare.

It is theorized that the Luristan bronzes were crafted by the earliest existence of the Median empire but this has never been proven as written records of the Medes have not survived. The Medes were Indo-Iranian people originally from central Asia who settled in Northwest Iran and later defeated the Assyrian empire in 614 B.C. Their success is short-lived and their empire which once stretched from central Iran to the Persian Gulf and Anatolia was overrun in 550 B.C. by the Persians

Luristan 'Blade Butted' Bronze Age Axe. Copper alloy, 255 grams; 155.18 mm. Circa 1200 B.C. A fine Luristan battle axe with a rectangular blade, it has a semi circular recess on the bottom edge for the circular socket. Behind the blade tapers into a blade at the butt. Very Fine and Rare.

Luristan 'Blade Butted' Bronze Age Axe. Copper alloy, 255 grams; 155.18 mm. Circa 1200 B.C. A fine Luristan battle axe with a rectangular blade, it has a semi circular recess on the bottom edge for the circular socket. Behind the blade tapers into a blade at the butt. Very Fine and Rare.

Luristan was invaded and settled by the Iranian Medes in the second millennium B.C. The Medes absorbed the indigenous inhabitants of the region, primarily the Elamites and Kassites, by the time the area was conquered by the Persians in the first millennium B.C.

Syrian 'Twins' Idol. Terracotta, 31.69 grams, 46.66 mm. Circa 5000 - 4000 B.C. An intriguing idol, 'egg timer' shape, one half has two eyes and the other one eye. Very Rare and Very Fine condition. Ex. An old private collection. Collected in the 1920's.

Syrian 'Twins' Idol. Terracotta, 31.69 grams, 46.66 mm. Circa 5000 - 4000 B.C. An intriguing idol, 'egg timer' shape, one half has two eyes and the other one eye. Very Rare and Very Fine condition. Ex. An old private collection. Collected in the 1920's. Authenticated by Professor Lambert of Birmingham University who worked for several Museums for over thirty years. See accompanying note.

Professor Lambert's Specialisms - Oriental studies: Assyrian
Appointments: Associate Professor and Chair of Oriental Seminary, Johns Hopkins University 1959-64; Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham 1970-93.
Principal publications: Babylonian wisdom literature, 1960; joint author Atra-hasis. The Babylonian story of the flood, 1969; 'The qualifications of Babylonian diviners' Festschrift für Rykle Borger 1998.
Elected to the Fellowship: 1971 §4

Indo Hittite 'Fertility' God. Terracotta, 450 grams, 155.87 mm. Circa 2000 B.C. Figurine from Bronze Age Afghanistan. Hollow figurine with a bird like head, pinched beak, applied eyes and thin elongated ears. She wears a pierced choker and has both hands together on chest, as if praying. This piece, which was manufactured from a single piece of long thin pottery coiled to form the hollow body, was probably mounted on a ceremonial staff or an alter where rituals would have been undertaken for fertility of both land and body. Extremely Fine 'as found' condition.

Indo Hittite 'Fertility' God

Terracotta, 450 grams, 155.87 mm. Circa 2000 B.C. Figurine from Bronze Age Afghanistan. Hollow figurine with a bird like head, pinched beak, applied eyes and thin elongated ears. She wears a pierced choker and has both hands together on chest, as if praying. This piece, which was manufactured from a single piece of long thin pottery coiled to form the hollow body, was probably mounted on a ceremonial staff or an alter where rituals would have been undertaken for fertility of both land and body. Extremely Fine 'as found' condition.

The Hittite old kingdom, with its capital city, Hattusa in the Halys bend, was one of several states into which Anatolia was divided during the second quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. Its finest monuments date from the imperial period that followed. The capital city, strategically placed astride a rocky gorge, has an inner enclosure, rising up to a high citadel rock. Greatly extended in imperial times, the outer city has a four-mile circuit of powerful fortifications.