An oval-shaped macehead in dark serpentine. The mace-head has a central piercing for mounting on a wooden shaft.
 
Ancient Near Eastern Bronze Age: Circa 3rd-2nd Millenium BC.
 
Very Fine condition, with a few patches of light accretion.
Width 6 cms (2.4 ins).
 
Provenance: London collection 1990's
 
Literature:
Cf. Gorelik, M., Weapons of Ancient East, IV millennium BC-IV century BC, Saint Petersburg, 2003, in Russian, see pl.XXX, no.89, from Megiddo, for similar.
 
Such mace-heads were also found in ancient Chinese tombs. See item 3; fig 10 for the type: The Mace-head: A significant evidence of the early cultural Interaction between the West and East: Li Shuicheng. 
 
This mace head would originally have been attached to a wooden shaft and used for ceremonial purposes or as a weapon. Mace-heads may not only have served a purpose in warfare, but also in religious contexts.
 
Mace-heads were a special artifact for the display of status and symbolized authority limited to noble and elite warrior classes. The discoveries in Dorak showed that only the kings were qualified to use maces. In Ancient Egypt and the Near East, many carvings representing mace-head holders have confirmed the unique functions of maces.
 
One of the areas where the largest number of maces has been discovered is the Ancient Egyptian Kingdom in Northern Africa. In the Nubian kingdom in the Upper Nile, mace-heads have been found dating to the late neolithic period. All were made with fine and scarce materials. Such mace-heads were all found in the Levant before they are known in Egypt.