Kamnaskires

Among the latest pickups for my weaponry collection are three spearheads that are rather special. They are designated “AE Spearhead #’s 26, 27, and 28” in my inventory. None is a run-of-the-mill, easier-to-acquire, undecorated tanged blade. Each is likely from Western Asia. (Two of the three are almost certainly from the Gilan region of northwestern Iran, along the southwestern coastal area of the Caspian Sea.) Each likely dates to the Early Iron Age I and II in Iran (1200 - 800 BC).

One (#26) is possibly unique in its particular combination of form and incised decoration.

Another (#27) is very large, measuring almost 25”. It is not only the longest spearhead I now own, but also simply the longest weapon in my collection - period.

The third (#28) is a very rare type that I have wanted for quite a while. I have known of the type only from reference books - and a single other specimen I spotted on the market.

AE Spearhead #26 (below)

Luristan?

1200 – 800 BC

31.6 cm (12.4”)

Description:

Elongated blade with shaft encasing tang, incised decoration, tip broken.

This spearhead (above) is a bit mysterious. Usually, I can ID my weapons with a fair degree of confidence using a number of scholarly references that I have access to. However, I’ve actually never seen any other specimen quite like this one. The tentative attribution to Luristan (I include a "?" after "Luristan" in its description in my gallery) - is speculative and is based on a slight resemblance to similarly profiled, rare Luristani spearheads I've seen in references. The blade, which is very narrow and long, has a flattened diamond cross-section. Incised geometric decoration is occasionally encountered on ancient Iranian bronze weapons of the Early Iron Age (although more often on daggers and arrowheads), like on this hilt from my collection: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/16274/AE_Hilt_1.jpg

AE Spearhead #27 (below)

NW Iran (Possibly Marlik)

1200 - 800 BC

62.5 cm (24.6") x 65 mm (2.56")

Description:

Large spearhead with long socket progressing from circular to rectangular cross-section, leaf-shaped blade.

The spearhead above is a type associated with Marlik, an excavated mound in Gilan in northwest Iran. The inhabitants of Marlik “seem to have flourished from near the end of the second millennium B.C. to the beginning of the first…contemporaneously with the last Middle Assyrian kings.” (Art of the Marlik Culture by Charles K. Wilkinson, Curator Emeritus of Near Eastern Art at the Met)

While I do already own one of these with long socket and leaf-shaped blade (AE Spearhead #20 in my gallery) – this new one, at almost 25", is double the length and therefore truly special. To give a sense of how large this new monster is, I am including some pics for context below. One of the images shows the two Marlik spearheads as they currently reside, side-by-side in one of my display cases. I also include reference pics of the type from Christian Konrad Piller’s Untersuchungen zur relative Chronologie der Nekropole von Marlik (Investigations on the Relative Chronology of the Necropolis of Marlik) and Ezat O. Neghaban’s Weapons from Marlik.

AE Spearhead #28 (below)

NW Iran (Possibly Marlik)

1200 - 800 BC

23 cm (9”)

Description:

Long, hollow cylindrical socket (damaged at end); two bands encircling socket to help secure spearhead to shaft; incised horizontal lines near rounded shoulders; pronounced circular-sectioned midrib tapering toward point; small losses.

AE Spearhead #28 is a rare type also associated with Marlik. Its most striking (pardon the pun) feature is two bronze bands encircling the socket, to aid in securing the spearhead to the shaft. Reference illustrations of the type, from Piller and Neghaban, are below.

Awesome. Congrats to all of us, but especially to you, Restitutor.

I think this is a likely candidate:

https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/7.1/809

A couple from Philomelium for comparison...each is 16 mm:

Excellent coin(s) and info, as always. But I also have to say: From a visual standpoint (meaning layout and presentation), your posts are great. Always enjoy looking at them. As someone who has taught design for more than thirty years, I appreciate the aesthetic consideration you devote to your posts. Well done.

Not my area, but maybe?

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7903451

Fantastic. Bravo!

Erin, since you mention "Z" - and your brother's "modest" price range - just wanted to mention that the bronze, hammered, elongated leaf-shaped arrowheads Z has listed as Canaanite are likely attributed correctly - and are very affordable. Sadly, he does often (it seems) apply the yellow make-up not just to coinage but to his bronze artifacts (including arrowheads) - but that should be easily removed. I am providing a detail of a chart of arrowheads from I. N. Medvedskaya's Iran: Iron Age I, below. Although most of the book deals with Iran proper, it covers some of the Western Asian environs including ancient Palestine/Canaan. BC dates to left. These are all second millennium BC. My assumption is that your brother will not be looking for anything from the later regional periods (Neo-Assyrian, Persian, and Hellenistic), but rather earlier - second millennium - material. In other words, Canaanite.

Admitting shameless self-promotion, here's one of mine, with important provenance (to a recognized/respected weapons collection), from the region and period in question. The weapons I collect are mostly from ancient Iran, but this Canaanite dagger blade "slipped in". (See what I did there?)

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=157243

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=157243&fullsize=1

You don't mention how much he wants to spend. If he just wants to dip a toe in for now, then starting with a modest oil lamp might be a good start. (Too bad you didn't post a couple weeks ago, when I shipped off an Iron Age pinched-type lamp and small Herodian era lamp for auction - both from that region; would have been happy to do a direct sale.)

Beautiful. Some years back I had seriously considered picking up a piece or two salvaged from the 15th century Hoi An wreck. There were a number of them on the market at that time - quite similar (to yours) blue-and-white ware.

Thanks for sharing.

1 hour ago, John Conduitt said:

Next: Phraates

John, since you may have meant the same Phraates - Phraates II - of Parthia, I'll post a used-to-own first:

Phraates II (Parthia)

Sellwood 17.1v.

But, assuming you may have meant any Phraates, here's a fave of mine, a van't Haaff plate coin and ex-van't Haaff collection:

Phraates (Elymais)

AE tetradrachm, early to mid 2nd century AD
Van't Haaff 14.7.1-1B.a (this coin)
Ex-Van't Haaff Collection

Since the obverse features two crescents, next up: crescent.

One must be very careful navigating Catawiki for anything ancient. With regard to artifacts, there are always plenty of fakes and kosher-but-misattributed lots listed along with solidly-researched authentic items. There are good players and bad. At least one seller listed on Forum’s Notorious Fake Sellers List and Warren Esty’s fake sellers list pushes his crap on Catawiki under another store name. The so-called Catawiki experts who do the vetting have received much criticism (deserved, it would seem) on the AncientArtifacts group.io page, where I lurk a lot. The criticism comes from a handful of contributors to that forum who are scary good - truly knowledgeable individuals with genuine expertise. One of those forum members posts a recurring, very detailed monthly assessment of Catawiki’s recent listings of ancient brooches, his particular area of emphasis. In his posts, which are essentially newsletters, he pretty much decimates, through cited impressive scholarship, that month’s listings. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that the vetting at Catawiki is very lax. It’s particularly unfortunate because, as I said, there are good guys there too. As with eBay or anywhere else, caveat emptor applies.

Neat coin. Thanks for sharing. I've always found these fascinating. Although I never took the plunge into this collecting area, I devoted a 2016 post to these at CCF: https://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=275070

Outstanding. Congrats.

Great additions to your extensive Kashmiri collection, Paul. Congrats.

56 minutes ago, KenDorney said:

Spear butts are rare and hard to come by.  I only had one in my antiquity collecting years.  Should be sold at CNG some time this year.

There's the very man who is to blame gets credit for my obsession with ancient weaponry. My first purchases in this direction, November 2018, two ancient Iranian arrowheads. From Mr. Dorney.

Ken, my wife may want to have a word with you.

Seriously, looking forward to your CNG sale.

38 minutes ago, Curtisimo said:

Here are some drawings I did

👍 Excellent work there. Impressive.

13 minutes ago, Ryro said:

next: cool hair

Orodes IV

AE drachm, c. 2nd half of 2nd century AD
Van’t Haaff (Catalogue of Elymaean Coinage) 17.1.1-2a (this coin)
Ex-Van't Haaff Collection

Next: another plate coin

29 minutes ago, Al Kowsky said:

Kam., This is a lovely looking coin of unusually fine style for Vologases III, with a great provenance 😊! Have you translated the date?

ΓΛY equals 433 SE. This equates to the year between October 121 and September 122. Although on this example the month, in exergue, is off-flan, Sellwood lists all type 79 with the year ΓΛY reverse and the delta monogram on the obverse as struck in January (ΠEPITEIOY). So, the coin was struck in January 122 AD.

9 minutes ago, Ryro said:

It's hard not to have a crush on Artemis. Beautiful, athletic while still curvy

You're not kidding! And no one expressed that beauty and toned body better than the die engravers of Elymais...hot cha cha!:

Although I've got a number of Tyches in better condition (like this one, for example), my most important Tyche (well, my most important Tyche coin, that is) is below. It's a plate coin from David Sellwood's The Coinage of Parthia, 2nd edition.

Vologases III

tetradrachm, 105 – 147 AD
Sellwood 79.5
(This coin illustrated in the catalog of Sellwood's "An Introduction to The Coinage of Parthia", 2nd edition)
Ex-David Sellwood Collection

Did you mean 16.6 mm, TC? The obverse is helmeted - and the helmet may be crested. The style is crude. It may be a contemporary imitation of a Pella, Macedon issue with Athena/cow grazing. Some of those counterfeits had cows facing left. (The official prototypes had right-facing cows.)

Another possibility - perhaps worth looking at given the wear (and how unclear the reverse is, as a result) - might be Phliasia issues of Phlious, with Athena/butting bull combo.

6 minutes ago, Qcumbor said:

Next : facing portrait

Orodes II (Elymais)

AE drachm, early to mid 2nd century AD
Van’t Haaff 13.3.2-1B

Next: A purchase from Frank Robinson (as this coin was).

Not my area, but I think you probably have it right (although since yours is apparently sans "ΘΕΑΣ", it may be a variant). If you enlarge the reverse image of coin #1 on the RPC page, you'll see the ΒΞΡ of that example is directly below the bull, as on yours. Now, that coin has a star  lower right obverse, which to me suggests that there must be a number of varieties within this general type. But I suspect the attribution to Claudius and Sidon is likely solid.

10 hours ago, NewStyleKing said:

tetradrachms that all have the same patina for sale

With due respect, since the coins are AR tets, the issue is tone - not patina.

I have noted the new coins as well - and their similar-looking surfaces. I do wonder how much of that is due to the photography. Hard to know without seeing the coins in person.

Interestingly, a very, very rare tetradrachm from Elymais, an issue of Kamnaskires II Nikephoros, was included in the same group this week. These hardly ever come to market and, not surprisingly, it didn't last long. Was sold within a day. (I probably should have snagged it while I had the chance, dammit!) Another Elymaean tet - a more common Kamnaskires III and Anzaze - is also among Z's new group of mostly Seleukids.

Beautifully crafted - an appropriate housing for your outstanding collection!