{"id":545,"date":"2022-12-23T23:43:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T04:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/?page_id=545"},"modified":"2023-06-14T10:53:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T14:53:13","slug":"dagger","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/dagger\/","title":{"rendered":"Dagger"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For a 3D model made by the\u00a0Virtual Curation Lab<\/a>\u00a0at Virginia Commonwealth University, see\u00a0https:\/\/skfb.ly\/oHL9V<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dagger
\nAWG0000.03.01
\nIran, Luristan
\nIron Age I (ca. 1200 - 1000 BCE)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Material: Bronze
\n<\/span>Technique: Cast<\/span><\/p>\n

Weight: 137g
\n<\/span>Dimensions: 28.5 cm in total length (blade 25.2 cm, flat tang with rivet-hole 3.3 cm), maximum width 4.3 cm, maximum thickness 0.6 cm
\n<\/span>Condition: Fair - some corrosion and blue-green spots as a result of bronze disease<\/span><\/p>\n

Provenance: Unknown, said to be from Amalash, North Iran
\n<\/span>Source\/donor: Unknown
\n<\/span>Date of acquisition: Unknown
\n<\/span>Research by: Danny Saravia Romero \u201823<\/span><\/p>\n

Description:
\n<\/strong>Cast dagger with a short tang that has a single rivet hole. Sharply angled shoulder. Slightly convex blade with a low, flat mid rib.<\/span><\/p>\n

Comparanda:
\n<\/strong>Similar in size, shape, and style though slightly longer is <\/span>Metropolitan Museum of Art 54.55.7<\/span><\/a> (Muscarella 287, no. 392), which Muscarella identified as coming from Iran, early first millennium BCE. Similar bronze daggers from Luristan are also found in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Moorey 1971, objects 38-40; see also Ashmolean <\/span>AN1951.135<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>AN1963.1556<\/span><\/a>). <\/span>For another similar bronze dagger from Luristan, see <\/span>Khorasani, fig. 1<\/span><\/a>. For similar tang and rivet, as well as shape and length see a <\/span>dagger blade from \u201cAmlash\u201d<\/span><\/a> sold by St. James\u2019s Ancient Art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Discussion:
\n<\/strong>This bronze dagger was likely cast around 1000 BCE in an open mold, <\/span>then hammered and annealed (<\/span>Khorasani, 198<\/span>). The dagger was most likely attached to a handle made from some form of organic material that was not preserved. B<\/span>ased on comparanda, it probably comes from the region of Luristan in northwestern Iran. In Luristan, daggers and dirks up to the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE were simple bronze or copper blades with tangs (Khorasani, 201-202). An old label says \u201cfrom Amlash, N. Iran, c. 1000 BC,\u201d but <\/span>the term \u201cAmlash\u201d covers an assortment of materials and periods rather than a specific place. It has no real archeological meaning when used with the word \u201cculture,\u201d although it does indicate a geographical region from which objects of certain types come (Dyson). <\/span>We don\u2019t have any solid records or provenance of when the bronze dagger came into our collection; however, it is likely that it was acquired during or after the 1920s, when the area was subject to heavy looting (Khorasani, 181). <\/span>The large-scale plundering of tombs is thought to have started in the late 1920s, and by 1930 Luristan was recognized worldwide. Antiquities from Luristan with unknown provenances continued to flood the antiquities markets in large quantities even after World War II (Overlaet, Chronology).<\/span><\/p>\n

Bibliography:
\n<\/strong>Bazin, Marcel. \u201cAMLA\u0160 i. Geography,\u201d <\/span>Encyclopaedia Iranica<\/span><\/i>, I\/9, p. 976, available online at <\/span>http:\/\/www.iranicaonline.org\/articles\/amlas-geography<\/span><\/a> (last updated December 30, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

Birmingham, J., N. F. Kennon, and A. S. Malin. 1964. \u201cA \u2018Luristan\u2019 Dagger: An Examination of Ancient Metallurgical Techniques.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Iraq<\/span><\/i>\u00a026, no. 1: 44\u201349. <\/span>https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/4199759<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Dyson, R.H. \u201cAMLA\u0160 ii. Excavations,\u201d <\/span>Encyclopaedia Iranica<\/span><\/i>, I\/9, p. 976, available online at <\/span>http:\/\/www.iranicaonline.org\/articles\/amlas-excavations<\/span><\/a> (last updated December 30, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon, Douglas H. 1953. \"Swords, rapiers and Horse-riders.\"\u00a0<\/span>Antiquity<\/span><\/i>\u00a027, no. 106: 67-78.<\/span><\/p>\n

Howard, Dan.\u00a0<\/span>Bronze Age military equipment<\/span><\/i>. Casemate Publishers, 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

Khorasani, Manouchehr Moshtagh. 2009. \u201cBronze and Iron Weapons from Luristan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Antiguo Oriente: Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente<\/span><\/i>. 7. <\/span>https:\/\/repositorio.uca.edu.ar\/handle\/123456789\/7229<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Moorey, P.R.S. 1971. <\/span>Catalogue of the ancient Persian bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum<\/span><\/i>. Oxford: Clarendon Press.<\/span><\/p>\n

Muscarella, Oscar White. 1988. <\/span>Bronze and Iron Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/span><\/i> New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neiburger, E.J. 2014. \u201cTreating Bronze Disease.\u201d <\/span>Central States Archaeological Journal<\/span><\/i> 61, no. 1: 30\u201331. <\/span>http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/44160108<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overlaet, Bruno.\u00a0 \u201cLURISTAN BRONZES i. THE FIELD RESEARCH,<\/span>\u201d Encyclop\u00e6dia Iranica<\/span><\/i>, online edition, <\/span>http:\/\/www.iranicaonline.org\/articles\/luristan-bronzes-i-the-field-research-<\/span><\/a> (last updated May 19, 2016).<\/span><\/p>\n

Overlaet, Bruno. \u201cLURISTAN BRONZES ii. CHRONOLOGY,<\/span>\u201d Encyclop\u00e6dia Iranica<\/span><\/i>, online edition, <\/span>http:\/\/www.iranicaonline.org\/articles\/luristan-bronzes-ii-chronology<\/span><\/a> (last updated May 19, 2016).<\/span><\/p>\n

St. James\u2019s Ancient Art. \u201cAmlash Dagger Blade.\u201d <\/span>https:\/\/www.ancient-art.co.uk\/near-eastern\/amlash-dagger-blade\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For a 3D model made by the\u00a0Virtual Curation Lab\u00a0at Virginia Commonwealth University, see\u00a0https:\/\/skfb.ly\/oHL9V. Dagger AWG0000.03.01 Iran, Luristan Iron Age I (ca. 1200 – 1000 BCE) Material: Bronze Technique: Cast Weight: 137g Dimensions: 28.5 cm in total length (blade 25.2 cm, flat tang with rivet-hole 3.3 cm), maximum width 4.3 cm, maximum thickness 0.6 cm Condition: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5468,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[207586],"class_list":["post-545","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":866,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/545\/revisions\/866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}