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An important pair of ancient Urartian archers arm-guards, dating to the 8th Century BC.
The bronze arm-guards are curved, designed to be worn on the outer lower arm, protecting the vulnerable archer, who was unable to carry a shield. The strip-like guards each have four finger-like projections, with perforations allowing them to be secured to the underlying garment. They are decorated on the outside with two ridges, which run the perimeter and are interspersed with raised dots. Both objects with a wonderful green and cuprite-red patina.
These extremely rare guards would have been worn by a high status noble warrior in antiquity. Their value in ancient times would have been considerable, and this is attested to by the fact that these guards have a highly unusual and important feature - they have two ancient restorations, one across the upper projection and one oblique across the lower segment. The former repair was carried out with the use of two pins whilst the latter required a reinforced strip of bronze and eight pins. How this damage was sustained is conjecture, but it is not unreasonable to suppose that battle damage was the cause.
These arm guards are important historical artifacts, one of only a handful known to exist and possibly the finest preserved examples in existence. They have been published and discussed in Born and Seidl's impressive book, Schutzwaffen aus Assyrien und Urartu (1995).1 They are compared to two heavily damaged examples, now in the State Prehistoric Collection, Munich.2 They have also undergone published metallurgical analysis, where their content was found to be approx. 81.04 % copper, 9.52 % zinc and 0.8 % lead.2
Length of guards: 6 1/2 inches each.
Width of guards: 3 1/2 inches each.
Condition: Exceptional condition, unrestored.
Provenance: Ex. Axel Guttmann collection, Berlin.
References:
1Born & Seidl, Schutzwaffen aus Assyrien und Urartu, Vol 4, Sammlung Axel Guttman, 1995 (Mainz). p. 88.
2ibid. p.89.
3ibid. p.178-179, table 4.
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