5,000-year-old sword discovered in Venice
Posted on 03/01/2020 5:36:47 PM PST by SunkenCiv
A 5,000 year-old sword, among the oldest Anatolian weapons in the world, was discovered by a PhD student at the University Ca' Foscari in Venice, Vittoria Dall'Armellina, in a monastery on the island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni in the Lagoon City. The weapon is at the museum of San Lazzaro. It is a small sword, located in a window together with Medieval objects. The sword however is very similar to 5,000-year-old weapons discovered inside the Royal palace in Arslantepe, eastern Anatolia, believed to be the most ancient in the world.
The museum of Tokat (Turkey) had a similar sword from the region of Sivas, which is extremely similar to the one in San Lazzaro...
The sword arrived from Trabzon to Venice, donated by an art merchant and collector, Yervant Khorasandjian, in the mid-1800s, according to an envelope. It was found with other objects in an area called Kavak. Ghevond Alishan, a famous poet and writer who was friends with John Ruskin, a monk with the congregation and a researcher, died in Venice in 1901. It is thougth therefore that this episode dates back to the last decades of the 19th century. The analysis on the metal's composition has been carried out in collaboration with Professor Ivana Angelini and (Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca Studio e Conservazione dei Beni Archeologici, Architettonici e Storico-Artistici) Ciba at the University of Padua.
The sword is made of a type of copper and tin frequently used before the Bronze age. This data and the marked similarity with twin swords in Arslantepe, allowed to date it between the end of the 6th and start of the 3rd millennium BC and to confirm that it was a very rare type.
(Excerpt) Read more at ansamed.info ...
Since the death of the founding editor, Archaeologica has changed the page formatting, but more concerning, has taken on agenda-driven-life characteristics in the choice of linked articles. It is sort of nice that the year's worth of links is split into more manageable pages.
Now that’s kewl.
That looks more like a large knife than a sword to me.
It's in pretty poor condition. I'll give you 50 bucks for it.
Interesting.
I had a Cold Steel Kukhri and they included the history of that style in the box. It actually was used by Alexander’s soldiers and was copied by Indian makers after he invaded.
It eventually made it”s way to Nepal.
Haha!
5,000 years old? I’ve got some nice landscape rock in my front yard way older than that. And seeing how the planet is about 4.5 billion years old, this sword is like new when compared to really old things.
I KNEW I lost that damn thing when I went there!!!!!!
More a personal dagger, I think...
You have to “sigh” first when you say it, then rub your head, and shake it... “Look, I gotta make money here, it’s going to sit on the shelf, and ....”
Discovered in a museum.
Is that like discovering America?
That’s not uh knife.
Crocodile Dundee will agree.
The design appears well thought out and balanced. Very impressive.
Is that the descoverer on the right? I have another discovery she could make.
Frodo mustve lost Sting,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
