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Maces

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Here is my small collection of ancient maces. These are all hundreds to thousands of years old. There are stone ones from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, bronze ones from ancient Iran and Italy, and an iron one from the middle ages. I will be adding a couple more soon so check back!

Click Images for Larger Version and Description

This is one of the earliest style of maces. It is known as a "piriform" which means pear shaped. This particular example is made of lapis lazuli and was probably a ceremonial mace rather than one used in battle. This replaced the earlier disc mace which was prone to breaking. This style began to be used throughout the Naqada III period of 3250 to 3100 BC. A lot of Egyptian wall carvings in temples and other monuments show Pharaohs smiting enemies with maces even years after their popularity had diminished. <a href="../images/maces/seti_mace.jpg">Here is a link to an image of an example of Seti I using a similar style mace.</a><a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/egyptian.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>
This is a Spanish style iron spiked flail that I acquired from a Peruvian art dealer.<br /><br /> It appears to be cast grey iron which became popular in Western Europe near the late 14th century. This particular example is not quite that old and was most likely brought over to Peru by the Spaniards at least 100 years after their conquest of Peru sometime in the 17th century. The Spanish use of iron weapons was one of the biggest advantages in their conquest of the Inca Empire who mainly relied on stone and some basic bronze weapons.<br /><br /> The cord in this example is most likely not original to the piece though it has been part of it for quite some time as evidenced by the slight oxidation that has rubbed into the cord. The balls would have originally been attached to a short chain around 8 inches long that would have been attached to the end of a longer wooden staff.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/flail.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>

This is a variation of the common Kiev style Knobbed Mace found all across the Balkans. It dates to the 12th - 13th centuries AD.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/balkan1.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>
This is another example of a Lorestan bronze mace head. Lorestan comprises a province and a historic territory of western Iran amidst the Zagros Mountains. This mace has four radial spikes protruding from the head. The socket is hollow and slightly flared near the bottom. It is not quite as old as the next example and was most likely made by the Medes-Persian during the early Iranian iron age of 1250-650 BC.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/Loristan2.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>
This is the classic Luristan form of a bronze knobbed mace head. The Luristan archaeological area is a historic territory of western Iran amidst the Zagros Mountains. This mace was probably made by the Cimmerians or the ancient Persians-Medes during the Iranian bronze age of 2900 to 1250 BC.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/luristan2.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>

This is another example of Luristan bronze. It was most likely made by the Medes-Persian during the early Iranian iron age of 1250-650 BC.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/luristan1.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>

This is a variegated red stone, globular mace head. Similar to the piriform mace head, this style was commonly used in Mesopotamia around 2450-1900 BC. Its use was cut short due to the introduction of helmets and body armor early in these areas. These type mace heads would have been attached to a wooden shaft and used as a weapon to strike an enemy.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/mesopotamian.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>

This is a very small bronze mace head that is most likely British.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/british.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>

This is a fragment of the common Russian style mace head.<a class="macecolorred" href="../images/maces/russian.jpg">Click Here to see a larger version of this image.</a>