Object Description
Ca. 800-700 BC
A bronze helmet and torc from Mesopotamia, Assyria. The helmet is formed of a hammered sheet of bronze and is conical in form, tapering sharply to a tall point. The sheet is connected and riveted on the back side of the helmet, with cheek pieces made from the same sheet of bronze. The conical tip gives the helmet its distinctive shape, which is set off from the slightly curved lower part of the human skull. The lower edge of the helmet is provided along the face cut-out, the cheek guard, and the rear part of the calotte with pairs of holes, which served for the attachment of a helmet lining that was flanged to the outside. The torc is conical in shape, with long plates that sit on the owner’s collar. At the centre, it is decorated with three cylindrical circles in the shape of mounds. For this form of helmet, see a chariot relief from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal in the Louvre, Paris, Museum Number: A019909.
The Assyrian Empire was a Mesopotamian superpower in the Levant. This kingdom started as the city-state of Assur before conquering more territory during a series of violent expansions. The Empire was defeated in ca. 609 BC and its territories were divided by the Median Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. This item comes with an academic report written by Russel Scott; a famous lecturer, reenactor, and expert on Viking and medieval artefacts.
Size: L: 395mm / W: 224mm ; 304g (Helmet) ; L: 450mm / W: 308mm ; 142g (Torc)