Axe with a Recumbent Animal
Unknown · c. 1000-800 BC
A small animal lies along the blade of this bronze axe, its body stretched flat as if resting on the metal. Behind it four spikes rise from the socket, the digitations typical of Luristan weapons. The axe is nearly twenty centimetres wide and was cast in a single piece, animal included. The museum's record does not identify the species, and the worn surface leaves it open whether it is a feline, a dog or a goat.
The axe is attributed to Luristan and dated to the early first millennium BC, around one thousand to eight hundred BC. Recumbent animals on the blade are one of several ways the highland smiths animated their weapons, alongside heads spitting the cutting edge and spikes shaped as horses. The Louvre purchased the piece in nineteen fifty eight together with a group of other Luristan axes now displayed in this case. None has a recorded find spot, since the cemeteries of the region were emptied by unofficial digging before archaeologists could record them, so comparison of style is the main tool for dating.
Did You Know? The animal lying on the blade rides along with every swing of the axe.
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