British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
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British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
1–10 of 96 posts
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#2The king's weapon combined the best qualities of the two bashing weapons that had previously been available to elite soldiers of the 22nd century BC: bricks and sticks.
This photo caption makes more sense if you are inscribing your gripe against the city you are warring with on your weapon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:This_cuneiform_text_gives...
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#3A pretty embarrassing oversight!
If the picture in this article is the mace, it's clear from the cuneiform that the 'object' would be upside down if it were in a vase orientation. Rarely ever do you start an impression from the left and trail off to the right.
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#4A pretty embarrassing oversight! If the picture in this article is the mace, it's clear from the cuneiform that the 'object' would be upside down if it were in a vase orientation. Rarely ever do you start an impression from the left and trail off to the right.
“we realised how daft we’d been”, says Irving Finkel, a co-curator of the show.
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#5A pretty embarrassing oversight! If the picture in this article is the mace, it's clear from the cuneiform that the 'object' would be upside down if it were in a vase orientation. Rarely ever do you start an impression from the left and trail off to the right.
“we realised how daft we’d been”, says Irving Finkel, a co-curator of the show.
Irvin Finkel is a truly entertaining and intelligent speaker. He has a bunch of videos and lectures on a range of subjects on YouTube through the British Museum Channel. I highly recommend not only his work, but the whole channel.
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#6A fired-clay headed mace? I'm the daft one now, but how does this work? What fired-clay is sturdy enough to whack someone with more than once? Clearly there is some, but if someone can point to a modern example I might know I will get over this disbelief more easily.
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#7The king's weapon combined the best qualities of the two bashing weapons that had previously been available to elite soldiers of the 22nd century BC: bricks and sticks. This photo caption makes more sense if you are inscribing your gripe against the city you are warring with on your weapon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:This_cuneiform_text_gives...
You may just be joking, but just in case, the Mesopotamian early dynastic period was very familiar with metalworking. Metal swords were common, and there are several examples of fine gold and silver-decorated weapons.
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#8A fired-clay headed mace? I'm the daft one now, but how does this work? What fired-clay is sturdy enough to whack someone with more than once? Clearly there is some, but if someone can point to a modern example I might know I will get over this disbelief more easily.
Given it was owned by a king, it sounds like a ceremonial weapon.
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#9A fired-clay headed mace? I'm the daft one now, but how does this work? What fired-clay is sturdy enough to whack someone with more than once? Clearly there is some, but if someone can point to a modern example I might know I will get over this disbelief more easily.
It was for a King, so potentially it was just ceremonial..
Re: British Museum realises 'vase' is in fact an ancient mace-head upside down
#10A fired-clay headed mace? I'm the daft one now, but how does this work? What fired-clay is sturdy enough to whack someone with more than once? Clearly there is some, but if someone can point to a modern example I might know I will get over this disbelief more easily.
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