WESTERN ASIATIC AXEHEAD WITH NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND MARDUK INSCRIPTION 1125-1103 BC A bronze axehead formed as a tubular socket with four moulded ribs projecting to the rear to form four conical spikes, a tongue-shaped flat blade slightly pressed in the upper and lower border with incised cuneiform inscription; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: "Ancient Inscribed Bronze Axehead naming a King of Babylon. Maximum height: 5 cm, Maximum length: 14.8 cm. the centre of this axehead is round, with hole for the shaft. On the opposite side from the blade are four spikes, joined for greater strength about half-way between the points and the shaft-hole. Each spike continues as a ridge of metal around the shaft-hole, the lower forming a circle, the upper three continuing on the opposite side from the spikes onto the blade. This has an upper edge continuing the angle of the spikes, but the lower edge goes downwards to the cutting edge, which is thus deeper than the opposite end of the blade. Originally the blade was deeper that it is now: the upper and lower edges have been hammered to give the blade more strength by thickening the edges. This happened since manufacture because the inscription has been in part obliterated by this hammering. The inscription is in Babylonian cuneiform and reads: te-le-'-ᵈama[r-utu] [m]ut-nen-na-a e-te₄-[ra] [m]uš-te-'-ú aš-ra-ti-[ka] [..........] x du-un-nin i-di-ia-m[a] [lu]-šam-qí-ta ge-ri-ia [ša] ᵈnabû-ku-dúr-ri-usur lugal šár: You are able, Marduk, to save the pious who seeks after your shrines, [........].Strengthen my arms that I may fell my foes. [Property of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of the world. This is a prayer to the Babylonian god Marduk, with ownership ascription. The Nebuchadnezzar named is Nebuchadnezzar I, king of Babylon 1125-1103 B.C., not the Nebuchadnezzar II known from the Bible. The inscription begins on one side of the blade and is completed on the other side. Another axehead of the same type formerly in the Foroughi Collection has the same inscription, though complete, see G.Dossin, in Iranica Antiquea II (1962) pl. xxiv. Both these axeheads were apparently found in Iran, but the inscription is purely Babylonian. How such Babylonian inscriptions came to be found in Iran is a debated issue. It may be that such texts were copied onto bronze objects made in Iran, but in any case their
WESTERN ASIATIC AXEHEAD WITH NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND MARDUK INSCRIPTION 1125-1103 BC A bronze axehead formed as a tubular socket with four moulded ribs projecting to the rear to form four conical spikes, a tongue-shaped flat blade slightly pressed in the upper and lower border with incised cuneiform inscription; accompanied by an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: "Ancient Inscribed Bronze Axehead naming a King of Babylon. Maximum height: 5 cm, Maximum length: 14.8 cm. the centre of this axehead is round, with hole for the shaft. On the opposite side from the blade are four spikes, joined for greater strength about half-way between the points and the shaft-hole. Each spike continues as a ridge of metal around the shaft-hole, the lower forming a circle, the upper three continuing on the opposite side from the spikes onto the blade. This has an upper edge continuing the angle of the spikes, but the lower edge goes downwards to the cutting edge, which is thus deeper than the opposite end of the blade. Originally the blade was deeper that it is now: the upper and lower edges have been hammered to give the blade more strength by thickening the edges. This happened since manufacture because the inscription has been in part obliterated by this hammering. The inscription is in Babylonian cuneiform and reads: te-le-'-ᵈama[r-utu] [m]ut-nen-na-a e-te₄-[ra] [m]uš-te-'-ú aš-ra-ti-[ka] [..........] x du-un-nin i-di-ia-m[a] [lu]-šam-qí-ta ge-ri-ia [ša] ᵈnabû-ku-dúr-ri-usur lugal šár: You are able, Marduk, to save the pious who seeks after your shrines, [........].Strengthen my arms that I may fell my foes. [Property of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of the world. This is a prayer to the Babylonian god Marduk, with ownership ascription. The Nebuchadnezzar named is Nebuchadnezzar I, king of Babylon 1125-1103 B.C., not the Nebuchadnezzar II known from the Bible. The inscription begins on one side of the blade and is completed on the other side. Another axehead of the same type formerly in the Foroughi Collection has the same inscription, though complete, see G.Dossin, in Iranica Antiquea II (1962) pl. xxiv. Both these axeheads were apparently found in Iran, but the inscription is purely Babylonian. How such Babylonian inscriptions came to be found in Iran is a debated issue. It may be that such texts were copied onto bronze objects made in Iran, but in any case their
Try LotSearch and its premium features for 7 days - without any costs!
Be notified automatically about new items in upcoming auctions.
Create an alert