helmet

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Object Type
Museum number: 22495
Description: Iron and copper alloy helmet with remains of iron ring-mail neck-guard.
Cultures/periods
Production date: 6thC (about)
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Kouyunjik
Materials: iron; copper alloy
Dimensions: Height: 8.10 inches; Length: 10.20 inches (base); Width: 7.19 inches (base)
Curator's comments: See also BM.22497 See also BM.22498 This helmet, along with 22495 and 22497, was considered to be of Sasanian date in the 1922 Guide (p. 169). It was not registered in the 19th century but was illustrated by Rawlinson in 1871, when it was stated to be from Kuyunjik, suggesting that it was found during Layard's excavations.
Bibliographic references: Sigrist M et al 1996a / Catalogue of the Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, II; Rawlinson G 1871a / The five great monarchies of the ancient eastern world (3 volumes) (vol.1, p.441) (with illustration); Layard A H 1849b / Nineveh and its Remains (vol. I, p. 341) (possibly a reference to); Guide 1922 / Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum (p. 169); Simpson 1996b / From Tekrit to the Jaghjagh: Sasanian sites, settlement patterns and material culture in northern Mesopotamia (pp.97-98); James S 1986a / Evidence from Dura-Europos for the Origins of Late Roman Helmets (pp.118-19) (suggests post-Sasanian date); Nicolle D & McBride A 1996a / Sassanian armies : the Iranian empire early 3rd to mid-7th centuries AD (fig. 34G); Simpson 1997c / Review: David Nicolle, 'Sassanian armies: the Iranian empire, early 3rd to mid 7th centuries AD' (p.244)
Location: On display (G52/dc7)
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 1995-2005, 17 Nov-12 Dec, BM, G52/IRAN/20/3 1994 16 Jun-23 Dec, BM, G49/IRAN/20/3 Old Mesopotamia gallery in old WAA student's room off Coptic Corridor, wall-case.
Condition: Helmet described as "recently repaired" in a letter from R. D. Barnett to S. Grancsay dated 12 June 1962 (ANE Corres).
Department: Middle East
BM/Big number: 22495
Registration number: .22495
Conservation

Free entry

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