Luristan Bronze Axe-Head

Ancient Persian craftsmen developed great skill in bronze working, producing some of the finest tools and weaponry then available. These include a great number of ornaments, tools, weapons, horse-fittings, as well as a smaller number of vessels. Craftsmen used very advanced techniques to produce these fine weapons which were mainly cast by using three major methods, open moulds, close moulds and lost wax castings. Many weapons were finished with a socket hole, much like this fine example, which would have been the most secure way of fixing the item to a wooden haft. This axe-head shows strong influences from Mesopotamian and Elamite metalwork. Weapons have been uncovered in recorded excavations, and have generally come from burials. The ethnicity of the people who created them remains unclear, though they may well have been Persian, and possibly related to the modern Lur people (who have given their name to the area).