Near Eastern
A Near Eastern serpentine mace head, circa 3rd Millennium BC
Stone
Height: 7.2 cm
Mottled in colour, of globular form, tapering towards a collared edge, with a large central perforation.
Condition:
Minor surface wear including pitting. There is some cracking in the stone.
Mottled in colour, of globular form, tapering towards a collared edge, with a large central perforation.
Condition:
Minor surface wear including pitting. There is some cracking in the stone.
Condition:
Minor surface wear including pitting. There is some cracking in the stone.
Provenance
Korban Gallery, London, June 1988Literature
This mace head would originally have been attached to a wooden shaft and used for ceremonial purposes or as a weapon. Stone mace heads are some of the earliest ancient weapons, and were first used in predynastic Egypt. The earliest examples were shaped in the form of a disk, however in the Naqada II period of predynastic Upper Egypt these were replaced with the more effective and robust piriform shape.
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