Kamnaskires' Top Ten for 2024

[Kamnaskires]

I originally wasn’t going to pull together a top ten list this year since my focus/preoccupation has been on moving to a new state and setting up house. I haven’t been quite as deeply immersed in collecting as in recent years, but there were some decent additions nonetheless. Here are my top ten, consisting of my best nine artifacts and one coin. (My coin collecting is very limited at this point.)

- Bob L. (Kamnaskires)

 

10.

Oil Lamp

Greek

c. 3rd – 1st century BC

96 mm (l) x 63 mm (w)

(3.78” x 2.5”)

Description:

Circular pedestal base, carinated body with lug on left side, elongated spout, some faint oxidized remnants of black glaze.

 

9.

AE Spearhead

29.36 cm (11.56”)

Marlik

1200-800 BC

Cf. Negahban (Weapons from Marlik), Pl. VII, VIII, and IX, Figs. 91-113

Description:

Lanceolate blade with rounded shoulders, wide flat rib, long square-sectioned tang with sharp bend at end (rat tail).

 

8.

Oil Lamp

Greek

(Greek colonies – Howland type 25)

c. 3rd century BC

73 mm (2.9”) (l) x 38.1 (1.5”) (h)

Description:

Wheel-made body, black glaze, large central filling hole, nozzle gouged and broken, inward sloping shoulder, concave underside of base signed in ink:

“Lamp from Macedonia

Kieffer

1915

(ASN).”

(I haven’t been able to find out anything definitive about the signature.)

 

7.

Oil Lamp

Late Roman/Early Byzantine

c. 5th century AD

90.5 mm (l)

(3.56")

Description:

Mold-made, discus decorated with relief pattern, lug handle, red clay body with light deposits.

 

6.

Oil Lamp

Greek

4th century BC

97 mm (l) x 54.6 mm (w)

(3.8” x 2.15”)

Description:

Howland type 21 or 21C; black glazed, rounded walls, large filling hole, horseshoe shaped handle (chipped).

 

5.

Oil Lamp

Greek

350 – 301 BC

99 mm (l) x 66 mm (w) x 40.6 mm (h)

(3.9” x 2.6” x 1.6”)

Howland type 25B

Description:

Wheel-made with a globular body, long nozzle, concave discus, and a large lug on the left. Reassembled from fragments. There is an almost identical lamp, perhaps from the same Athens workshop, in the collection of the British Museum:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1856-1223-411-

 

4.

Jug - En route; seller's photos above.

Holyland, Southern Type

Iron Age I (1200 – 1000 BC)

24 cm (h) x 12.9 cm (w) 

(9.4” x 5”)

Amiran (Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land), plate 85, fig. 4

Description:

Pinched trefoil mouth, handle drawn from rim to shoulder., concave neck, oblong body.

 

3.

Kamnaskires II Nikephoros

AR tetradrachm, c. 147 - 139 BC

Van't Haaff 2.1.1-2b

Ex-Saeed S. Ghobash Collection

 

2.

Jug

Magna Graecia

6th – 4th century BC

75 mm (w) x 20 cm (h)

(3” x 7.9”)

Description

Tall footless jug with single handle and flared rim, red-orange glaze, white deposits. Body has a spiral etched line pattern, some flaws as made.

Ex-Sand Collection

 

1.

Iron Mask Sword 

Luristan

9th - 8th century BC

49.53 cm (19 ½”)

Cf. Khorasani (Arms and Armor from Iran), Cat. 21-27

Cf. Khorasani (Luristan and Marlik: Centers of Weapon Making in Ancient Iran, from Marlik, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2012), Fig. 8

Cf. Muscarella (Bronze and Iron, Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), Fig. 303

Description:

Blade and handle made of different iron parts, cast and forged together. Disk-shaped pommel with protomes mounted on opposite sides, two molded cords on grip, blade set at 90-degrees to handle. Rare – there are an estimated 90 extant examples of this variety.

Ex-Martin B. Retting Collection; brought by Retting to the United States in the 1950's.

This sword is discussed here: https://www.numisforums.com/topic/5945-iron-mask-swords/

 

[Cordoba]

great kamnaskires tet!

[panzerman]

I agree with Cordoba!

 

Love the  ancient artifacts a lot!

John

[CPK]

Awesome artifacts (and coin!) I'd say you did fairly well. 🙂

[Al Kowsky]

Nice group of oil lamps & a handsome Greek jug 🤩.

[Curtisimo]

Fantastic artifacts!

[MrMonkeySwag96]

That sword is in great shape for an iron artifact! I’m impressed on how the handle, pommel, tang, and blade are intact  

 

[Grudissius Minimus]

Hey @Kamnaskires

Some very cool pieces!

Just out of curiosity, how do you display/ store your antiquities?

Best Wishes in 2025!

Groody.

[seth77]

Really like the oil lamps. But regarding those that don't have a reference attached to them, how do you know their relative culture and dating? Like for instance number 10 and 7. No. 10 looks late Hellenistic or early Roman in shape and does not have the distinctive metallic luster that Greek wares have, so how do you know it dates 3-1st BC for instance? 

And since there are so many fakes around, how can you be decently confident that, lacking a provenance, they are authentic? 

[Kamnaskires]

Thanks for the replies, all. 

 

5 hours ago, Grudissius Minimus said:

Just out of curiosity, how do you display/ store your antiquities?

I have several display cabinets that I use. The following images are outdated - my collection has grown since these pics were taken, and I've done a major rearrangement of the material. I will provide updated pictures in a couple months here at NumisForums, after a few more items arrive.

 

3 hours ago, seth77 said:

how do you know their relative culture and dating?

The hive mind at https://groups.io/g/AncientArtifacts - and, in particular, the lamp expert David Knell, as well as Robert Kokotailo (both members at that site) - has been invaluable with regard to be attribution and assessment of authenticity. I am pleased to publicly acknowledge them here. As an example, here is a thread in which both of these kind fellows assisted with #7, above, which you had asked about:

https://groups.io/g/AncientArtifacts/topic/103969081

 

Edited December 30, 2024 by Kamnaskires