Kamnaskires

Thanks, Paul and Albert!

Thanks, all, for taking a look.

Never too late to start! Thanks, all.

That's awful. Sorry to hear this, Donna. To your point: Yes, it can be a pretty specialized area of antiquities collecting, depending on whether one chooses to dabble with just an item or two, or go whole hog. I blame Dorney, who sold me my first Western Asian weapon (an arrowhead), for making me whole-hoggish. As I recall, there was no label affixed to that arrowhead, cautioning about potential addiction. Nevertheless, I took the high road and chose not to sue. 😁

Trifecta! Outstanding.

Forewarning: Major liberties taken (i.e. cheating) with #8 below! 10. I have a real fondness for potsherds. I picked up a couple of groups of sherds this year. This lot may be the most interesting: Eleven terra sigillatta fragments, c. 1st - 2nd century AD, largest measures about 67mm (2.6") at widest point. Above: Group shot of the eleven. Below: Individual studies of seven of the sherds: - Apollo seated left with kithara; for a very similar but clearer rendition of the scene, see this fragment from the Museen am Donaulimes in Österreich: https://www.donau-limes.at/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Apollo_CIMG7573G.jpg - Recumbent animals. - Two figures, including nude male at right. - Helmeted warrior left, holding round shield. - Hindquarters of a dog or boar. - Lion (?) right. - Nude warrior in contrapposto with shield and, perhaps, spear. 9. Apulian blackware figural handle from a large jug, head (of Zeus?) at its base, 13.4 cm (h) (5.3"), c. 4th century BC, ex-Private collection from the 1960s. 8. I am going to totally cheat with #8. I am declaring it a five-way tie between the following weapons. Each is special in its own way, and they are genuinely on par for me, as far as their merits go. From left to right: Iron spearhead, 18.4 cm, possibly Roman (as it was listed), 1st - 4th century AD, supposedly from the Danubian Limes. (Although such types are indeed cataloged among Roman weapons of Eastern Europe, there were similar spearheads used through the Middle Ages...thus I list this as "possibly" Roman.) I recently started a small collection of European iron weaponry, and I think this is the most interesting piece of that subset so far. Bronze spearhead from northwest Iran, 23 cm, 1200 - 800 BC. A very, very rare type associated with Marlik. Bronze spear butt (counterpoise), 22 cm, likely northwest Iran, early first millennium BC. I own five spear butts from this period, but this is the only one that is fully intact. (Other than a corroded-out hole.) The others have broken tips. So, this earned its spot here. Bronze dagger, Western Asia, 31.1 cm, possibly Luristan, 1200 - 800 BC. This is my fifth dagger with a flanged hilt (for bone, wood, or ivory inlay) from this period. While it's the worst of the those in terms of its condition, it's the only flanged-hilt dagger I picked up this year, and I'm glad I got it. Iron dagger, 22.86 cm, possibly Parthian or early Sassanian, c. 1st - early 4th century AD? Although this dagger was listed by the seller as Roman, its form closely matches iron daggers and swords of the late Parthian and early Sassanian periods in Iran (as cataloged by Khorasani, as well as by Farrokh, Harmian, Kiapi, and Lojandi.) 7. Jug, Roman, c. 3rd century AD, 10.8 cm (w) x 14.6 cm (h). I like the simple form of this one. 6. Bronze dagger, 40.6 cm, northwest Iran, possibly Amlash, 1200 - 800 BC. Crescent-shaped guards were prevalent in daggers and dirks of Early Iron Age Iran. I was pleased to snag this example. 5. Bronze dagger blade, 39.4 cm, northwest Iran, 9th - 8th century BC. While some sellers have listed this rare type of ancient Iranian blade as a spearhead, specialists/researchers usually call them daggers. This type has been excavated from tombs in and around Amlash in NW Iran, and is datable based on adjacent fibulae. 4. Bronze dagger, 24 cm, western Iran, late 3rd to 2nd millennium BC. A very rare type, associated with Luristan and Elam. 3. Bronze spearhead, northwest Iran, possibly Marlik, 1200 - 800 BC. At 62.5 cm (almost 25") long, the largest piece in my collection. 2. Vessel/Pot, western or northwestern Iran, 25.4 cm (w), c. 1000 BC. Beak-spouted vessel with carinated body, decorated with pinched bands and incised lines. Some small losses. The best of my three Early Iron Age Iranian beak-spouted vessels. 1. Bronze sword, 51.1 cm, northwestern Iran, Talish area, c 1000 - 800 BC. From a hugely important collection (John F. Piscopo). A standout acquisition for me.

I focused more on antiquities than coins this year - I posted that top 10 list in the antiquities section. But here are ten of my coin pickups. Numbers four and three below are from Parthia. All others are from Elymais. Numbers seven and six are sellers' pics since those two coins are en route. 10. Kamnaskires-Orodes*AE drachm, early to mid 2nd century ADVan't Haaff type 12.2*This coin could be a transitional issue, from among the varieties of van't Haaff type 13.1, of Kamnaskires-Orodes' successor, Orodes II. With the reverse legend somewhat unclear and likely corrupted, it may be impossible to determine which of these two rulers actually issued the coin. Both types - VH 12.2 and VH 13.1 - exhibit the abstracted facing Belos on the reverse. 9. PhraatesAE drachm, early to mid 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 14.1.1-1C 8. Uncertain Early Arsacid KingsAE drachm, late 1st century BC to early 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 10.3.2-4 7. Orodes IIAE tetradrachm, early to mid 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 13.3.1-3A 6. Uncertain Early Arsacid KingsAE tetradrachm, late 1st century BC to early 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 10.3.1-1B 5. Uncertain Early Arsacid KingsBI (AR?) tetradrachm, late 1st century BC to early 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 10.3.1-1A 4. Vologases IIItetradrachm, 105 - 147 AD(struck 124 - 125)Sellwood 79.17 3. Vologases IIItetradrachm, 105 - 147 AD(struck 122 - 123 AD)Sellwood 79.8 or 79.10 2. Uncertain Early Arsacid KingsBI tetradrachm, late 1st century BC to early 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 10.1.1-1 variant (no pellet to left of anchor) 1. Uncertain Early Arsacid KingsAR tetradrachm, late 1st century BC to early 2nd century ADVan't Haaff 10.3.1-1B

Modern fake, probably cast, of a dedecadrachm of the Thraco-Macedonian Derrones tribe. Next: any variant of a quadripartite incuse. (The one on the reverse of this fake is barely discernible.)

Congrats on the rarer-mint drachm, Parthicus. Good pickup. I suspect you've got a double die match to Alwin's. Although I'm just scanning up and down this page to compare the two, rather than taking the pics into Photoshop to properly compare side-by-side, it nevertheless seems to me that there are just too many correspondences between the reverses to be coincidental.

I thought I’d contribute a post dealing with a particularly odd-looking variety of ancient pottery vessel. It’s a type that was produced from the Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age in Iran. I own a number of ancient clay vessels from Western Asia, including western and northwestern Iran. Perhaps the most noteworthy are the pitchers sporting what is sometimes referred to as “bird beak spouts”. (Alternatively, the pitchers are sometimes just referred to as “beak-spouted” vessels.). Although these unusually shaped vessels are typically associated with ancient central, western, and northwestern Iran, I believe that variants were produced in Anatolia and Crete as well. Roughly dating from the second to early first millennium BC, they evoke (to varying degrees) the waterfowl of the southern Caspian Sea region from which the pots originate. There are a number of varieties. Some beak-spouted vessels were more literal in their depiction of avian features. Others, mine included, are much less direct. Some, like finds from Tepe Sialk in central Iran, had elaborate, painted geometric decoration. Others had simple, unpainted, burnished surfaces. Some featured incised decorative patterns. In some, the back of the “bird’s head” is connected to the rim at the top of the vessel. In others it is not connected, being instead supported entirely by the “neck”. All three of mine have large, roundish bodies (one is carinated, giving it a somewhat lenticular shape) and long, trough-like "bird beak” spouts with open channels projecting from one side of their rims. Additionally, each has a small loop handle (broken on one specimen). One features a crude adorno, perhaps of a ram’s head or bird in flight, below its handle. The one with the carinated form is highly burnished and is decorated with incised patterns. First, here are a number of examples from websites and texts: And, here are mine: Western or NW Iran Early first millennium BC (Iron Age II) 23.5 cm (w) x 22.9 cm (h) (9.25” x 9”) Description: Large, round body, "bird beak spout" with open channel projecting from one side of rim, some losses (to handle, rim, and spout), long but stable body crack. Ex-Arthur M. Sackler collection. [Sackler (1913-1987) was one of America's preeminent collectors of Asian and ancient art.] This piece was among dozens of ancient Near Eastern ceramics works from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection released from long term storage by Sotheby's, c. 2009. They were sold at auction by Millea Bros. at the Morristown, New Jersey Armory, February 2011. Amlash (NW Iran) c. 1000 BC 18.4 cm (w) x 13.3 cm (h) (7 ¼” x 5 ¼”) Description: Large, round body, “bird beak spout” (broken) with open channel projecting from one side of rim, small loop handle, adorno below handle (Bull or ram’s head? Bird in flight?). Western or NW Iran c. 1000 BC 25.4 cm (w) x 17 cm (h) (10” x 6.7”) Description: Beak-spouted vessel with carinated body, opposing small ring handle, decorated with pinched bands and incised lines, small losses to rim and spout. Ex-Carlisle, England collection formed 1960s – 1980s

A suggestion...don't know if it's a good one. Obviously, here at year's end, we've got members' "Top" lists starting to roll in. The "General" forum contains lots of posts that are not related to collectors' lists. Consolidating all "Top" lists together will make it very easy to find specific lists and to scan through them. How about creating a specific forum for "'Top' Lists" so that members' lists are easy to find? (I suppose it could even be a sub-forum nested under "General".) Once it's created you could move the existing "Top" lists that have already been posted in "General" to the newly created forum, and instruct all members to direct their future lists there as well. Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

Kamnaskires IV Elymais, AR tetradrachm, c. 63/2 - 54/3 BC (dated 58/7 BC) Van't Haaff 8.3.1-1 C/M of Nike standing left, holding wreath...relatively clear, anyway. Next: Silver (or gold) from an Eastern kingdom.

I think they are fine.

All are great, but what a portrait on that Claudius. Damn!

Maybe Bulgaria, Second Empire? Some to consider: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=saltire+cross+ae+bulgaria&category=1-2&lot=&date_from=&date_to=&thesaurus=1&images=1&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0

Definitely Greek, Greek, and Greek.

Yes, Paul, still collecting coins occasionally. The identity of the reverse is uncertain, but the mystery is intriguing. Although most often referred to as just an anonymous male bust, it is sometimes thought to be Zeus or Belos. But the fact that the reverse bust became slowly degenerated after the Arsacids took control from the Kamnaskirids - essentially amounting to a prolonged erasure over decades of coinage - suggests (for me) that it must have been strongly associated with the Kamnaskires Dynasty and their claim to the throne. Could it represent the progenitor of that line? Or, perhaps, a syncretized version of Zeus/Belos and Kamnaskires I? It's clear that the Arsacids feared replacing the reverse iconography in one fell swoop. We can only speculate that to have done so would have been politically inexpedient. I find the step-by-step degeneration fascinating. Note the reverse on the second coin, from the period of the early Arsacid kings - during which we don't know individual rulers' names. By the time of this coin's minting, the degradation of the bust had probably just recently been completed - there's no evidence at this point of the bust remaining. It's been reduced to just a bunch of lines. Thus I infer that it's a coin from late in the reign of the "uncertain early Arsacid kings". The ones that are from early in the reign of the Arsacids are likely the ones with the bust largely intact. The subsequent mintings/engravings picked apart the portrait little by little.

My two latest Elymaean drachms. Kamnaskires V AR drachm, 54 - 32 BC Van't Haaff 9.1.2-5-6A Uncertain Early Arsacid Kings AE drachm, late 1st century BC to early 2nd century AD Van’t Haaff 10.3.2-4

Catering to the topic (despite my comfort zone being weaponry of Western Asia), here's a (probably) Roman spearhead. Roman, 1st – 4th century AD (Supposedly from the Danubian Limes) Iron, 18.4 cm (7.25”) Description: Barbed “plumbata” head, long tapering socket, tip bent from impact. Cf. Radman-Livaja, Ivan (Militaria Sisciensia: Nalazi rimske vojne opreme iz Siska u fundusu Arheoloskoga muzeja u Zagrebu, 2004), figure 28. And a similar head, although on a Roman plumbata rather than a spearhead: figure 34. Cf. Unz, Christopher and Deschler-Erb, Eckhard (Katalog der Militaria aus Vindonissa, 1997), figures 332, 333.

I've got his personal email address - but it's from a couple years ago. I don't know if it's up-to-date, but am happy to send a quick email with a link to this thread. Will do so right away. Bob

Not sure, but I think I see evidence of some tooling.

Venetian grosso? Perhaps Antonio Veniero.

Nice, Al! I have several flanged hilt Luristani daggers, but not one from Piscopo's collection. Oh, how I would love to own that one!

Thanks, robinjojo!

Thanks, all.