Lot 76
Ancient Near East, Levant, Canaanite, Middle Bronze Age, ca. 1900 to 1550 BCE.A weathered and earthen chorus of war and ritual, this group of nine Canaanite copper spear tips evokes the martial splendor of the Middle Bronze Age Levant. Hammered and cast in varied forms, each weapon bears a blade that once flashed in sun or firelight - now blanketed by the bloom of centuries, their surfaces encrusted with green patina and earthen mineralization, sculpted by time as much as by human hands. The assortment ranges from elegant leaf-bladed points to triangular, tanged examples with pronounced shoulders, basal projections, and in one case, a preserved bulbous rivet button at the neck. Some were socketed, others designed to be lashed or pinned into wooden shafts, their silhouettes tailored to piercing armor, hide, or shield. Each bears the hallmarks of ancient metallurgy - rough-cast seams, hammering ridges, and uneven tapering that signal both utilitarian manufacture and regional typology. Size of largest: 9" L x 2.1" W (22.9 cm x 5.3 cm)
In the fortified cities of the Levant - Hazor, Megiddo, Lachish - such weapons were wielded by warriors, stored in arsenals, or placed in tombs as symbols of rank and protection. Spears formed the backbone of Bronze Age warfare, but in funerary contexts they also carried spiritual weight, equipping the dead for the afterlife or proclaiming their social station. As a group, these fragments of martial past speak of shared tradition and local adaptation. Their survival across millennia transforms them from tools of battle into relics of deep time - witnesses to the rise of kings, citadels, and early interstate warfare.
Provenance: private Boca Raton, Florida, USA collection acquired from Baidun Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel
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#194783
- Condition: Chipping and small losses throughout, as well as nicks, abrasions, and weathering to surface commensurate with age. Rich green patina and earthen deposits to all.
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