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General Remarks and Assyrian
Stuff
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Does artwork from the time in
question (say 1200 BC - 700 BC) shows people wearing the kind of sword we are
interested in? That is the questions, indeed. Major sources of relevant art are
from Neo
Assyrian palaces in, for example in Ninivah or Khorsabad. That dates them
to around 700 BC, give or take 50 years. The
Achaemenid Empire, ca. 550
BC – 330 BC, the first Persian empire founded by Cyrus the Great, also
provides for many reliefs mostly from Persepolis. Than we have Hittite places and some
others. Read up on these empires
here.
The Assyrian reliefs are at least 100 years too young to provide for pictures
of the swords we are after here. The Persepolios ones are even younger.
Nevertheless, these artworks are of some interest. |
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Here are a few reliefs I have
already used elsewhere in this Hyperscript. Use the links for a detailed
description
When I started this module I hoped to find a lot more and better pictures. Well
- there is still hope. But so far not much has come up, sorry. |
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Now let's look at what I found in the
meantime. First a few more Assyrians:
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| Alabaster bas-relief depicting Shalmaneser
III, Ashurnasirpal II’s son, attacking a city. Neo-Assyrian Period,
865-860 BCE. Detail of Panel 4 (bottom), Room B, the North-Palace Palace,
Nimrud, modern-day Iraq. (The British Museum, London |
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Two depictions of Ashur-nasir-pal II;
King of Assyria from 883 to 859 BC |
| Source: Wikipedia and Metmuseum |
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Sennacherib; From the ruins of Nimroud
Wood cut after the relief |
| Source: ? (Internet) |
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Assyrian King Sennacherib (704 - 681 BC)
From Ninivehg
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| Source: Internet |
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All reliefs except for the last one
show long slender straight and possibly double-edged swords, very likely made
from iron / steel.. The sheath has a chape characteristic for cavalry and the
hilt typically consists of a sequence of rings and spheres. The only exception
here is the hilt of the sword in the woodcut picture two up. |
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In essence., two statements can be
made:
- No halfway well preserved sword has been found so far that resembles the
ones in these art pieces. The best one could come up with are some (heavily
corroded) finds from Hasanlu.
- Assyrian reliefs (including the ones not shown here) never show somebody wearing a sword that resembles
one of the "Leitfossillien" swords we are after.
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Hittite and Neo-Hittite Art
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There isn't all that much, it
appears. In fact, there seems to be nothing at all from the Hittite empire
proper, that collapsed in the dark years around 1200 BC. What we have is some
stuff from Neo-Hititte kingdoms, sort of smaller and less powerful survivor
states somewhere in today Turkey |
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Basalt relief from the citadel walls of
Sam'al, Turkey, 10th-8th C. BC.
Hittite God of War with a spear, sword, and shield. |
| Source: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Wikimedia
Commons |
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Unfortunately we do not see much of
the sword. But it could be what I have called a
Luristan type
II variety. |
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Here is another Neo-Hittite (or
Luwian, if you like) warrior / God / King with a well visible short sword or
dagger. He also wears a mace and a goat. |
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| Karatepe-Aslantas; Guy with sword |
| Source: Photographed by me, 2013 |
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Kara tepe It became an important
Neo-Hittite center after the collapse of the Hittite Empire in the late 12th
century around the end of the 8th - 7th century BC. The site's eighth-century
BC bilingual inscription reflects the activities of the kings of Adana from the
"house of Mopsos", it is given in Hieroglyphic Luwian.
Interesting - but the sword above is not of the type we are looking for. |
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Luristan and Others
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There are innumerable Luristan
bronzes around - but only one shows somebody with a sword. This rare exception
lives in the Teheran Museum of Archaeology |
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A bronze human figure with inscription in
Babylonian cuneiform script
from the 1st millennium BC |
| Source: EL Zorro Blog: A Journey in Time .1st stop
Tehran: 6 Bronzeware of the Museum of Archaelogical Iran |
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The museum doesn't seem to offer
much informations but we have Angelika Berlejung's book: "Divine Secrets
and Human Imaginations: Studies on the History of Religion" and from that
wee learn: |
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Tough luck! The inscription is not
helpful, the origin and the date of the statue is not too clear. Thee sword,
however, might be a proper if short Luristan type II sword. |
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Finally the golden bowl of Hasanlu It
was discovered by Robert H. Dyson in 1957. The bowl is estimated to be around
3200 years or older. It shows a collecetiojns of three (bronze) daggers that
look rather familiar: |
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| Golden bowl of Hasanlu |
| Source: Internet and Expedition Magazine - Penn
Museum. |
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Nice but not helpful. |
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© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)
With frame
Large Pictures - Chapter 11.1