Timeless are pleased to offer a a beautifully preserved Bronze Age short-sword, dating from the 2nd millennium B.C.E.

 

The sword was cast in the Greek or near Middle-Eastern Aegean region a century or two before the Trojan war. As with many swords of this era, the blade is triangular, and the hilt is so short that it could be gripped by only three fingers ­– the thumb and forefinger gripping a blunted, thickened section of the blade termed the ricasso.

 

Whilst the discovery of alloyed copper was a huge leap in mankind’s development, bronze itself is a relatively malleable metal. There are surviving accounts of Bronze Age battles in the Near East where the swords would bend after only one or two strikes – the warriors then having to stop fighting and straighten the blades with their feet.

 

Warfare in the Bronze Age was largely conducted with spearmen and supported by archers, as both these weapons use far less metal than a sword. Bronze weaponry was expensive to produce, and only the wealthy could afford to arm themselves with swords. It is likely, therefore, that this sword was passed down from father to son for many generations.