Ca. 1200-700 BC. Western Asiatic/Aegean. A bronze spear with a triangular blade, raised midrib, sharp edges that taper gradually to a pointed tip, long socket, and a curved tang for insertion into a haft ending in a small pommel. Good condition, beautiful patina; custom-made stand included. Bronze weaponry production flourished in Western Asia, the Aegean, and mainland Greece from the 2nd millennium BC to about 700 BC, when it was gradually replaced by iron. Swords, spears, and arrows were important symbols of war in Greek Bronze Age societies and served as powerful reminders that authority rested in the hands of those who could earn it. For more information, see Moorey, P. R. S. (1971). Catalogue of the Ancient Persian Bronzes in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 88-89 & Muscarella, O. W. (1988). Bronze and Iron: Ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 103-104. Size: L:420mm / W:58mm ; 289g. Provenance: Obtained on the London art market in the early 2000s; formerly from the collection of an English Family, by descents from the 1970s.