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<p>[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 24777261, member: 26430"]I'm going to do two replies, I think...</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Part 1: Semi-numismatic (scale weights)</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Smaller (under 6g) than it looks!</i></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Don't remember why, but I bought this one at auction. I'd just acquired Hendin's scale weights book, so maybe I thought it'd be nice to have a physical object or two. (It is.) But I don't really have a "collection" of them & wouldn't repeat.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1585218[/ATTACH] </p><blockquote><p><b>Byzantine Bronze or Islamic 20-sided scale weight</b> (10mm, 5.92g), c. 6th-8th cent CE.</p><p><b>Style</b>: "Polyhedron" or “spheroid with bird’s eyes” and "shallow indentation with central 'navel'-like protuberance." </p><p><b>Standard</b>: Quarter Uncia or 4 scripula (of 1.44g) = 2 Dirhams (of 2.89g). </p><p><b>Ref</b>: Hendin p. 226, No. 419, corr.; Holland No. 61, see also No. 35, 36; Holland (2009) Ch. 8, No. 128.</p><p><b>Prov</b>: <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2570490" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2570490" rel="nofollow">Agora Auctions 32 (A. de la Fe, NYC [Online], 14 Jul 2015), 52</a></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Game Piece or Scale Weight (or Other)?</i></b></p><p><br /></p><p>Does this kind of thing look familiar to anyone? (Sorry for the old photos!)</p><p><br /></p><p>I stopped with "uncleaned" & metal detector lots when I decided they (or some of them) might not be so great for the archaeological record, but I have some interesting bronze odds and ends acquired ~25-15 years ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1585219[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1585220[/ATTACH] </p><blockquote><p><b>Uncertain Levantine Bronze Object</b> (12mm, 3.65g), with incuse “dots.”</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Standard (?)</b>: Byzantine "1 Nomismata" weight (cf. <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/anata_1018-1946_2013_num_21_1_1348" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/anata_1018-1946_2013_num_21_1_1348" rel="nofollow">Tekin 2016, No. 16 = Anamur 2.29.2003</a>, square, "N," 3.67g); cf. Hellenistic or Roman period drachm standard, maybe consistent w/ certain local Dinar or Dirham standards (?). Could fit any number of the earlier Ancient Near Eastern weight standards going back two thousand years, but those are much rarer than Islamic/Byzantine type.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Style</b>: Doesn’t quite match any in Hendin’s (2007) <i>Ancient Scale Weights</i> or Holland’s (1986) “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43573712" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43573712" rel="nofollow">Islamic Bronze Weights from Caesarea Maritima</a>” (<i>ANS Museum Notes</i> Vol. 31) or (2009) <a href="https://www.academia.edu/3596498/WWOCM_Ch_8_Islamic_Bronze" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/3596498/WWOCM_Ch_8_Islamic_Bronze" rel="nofollow"><i>Weights and Weight-Like Objects from Caesarea Maritima</i></a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Prov</b>: Ex from a group of ~700 mostly Roman bronze coins from Lebanon via UAE, c. 2000-2010.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>I've never seen one like this. Maybe a game piece? For <a href="https://www.vindolanda.com/blogs/blog/playing-games-at-vindolanda" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.vindolanda.com/blogs/blog/playing-games-at-vindolanda" rel="nofollow">something like the Roman Merels/Mill Game</a> or another ancient board game with moving pieces (widespread & popular in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean from the Bronze Age onward)?</p><p><br /></p><p>What else can it be? Not pierced, so not jewelry or fishing weight... Too small for projectile? If not a scale-weight, a counting piece or gaming piece is what I keep coming back to.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 24777261, member: 26430"]I'm going to do two replies, I think... [B]Part 1: Semi-numismatic (scale weights)[/B] [B][I]Smaller (under 6g) than it looks![/I][/B] Don't remember why, but I bought this one at auction. I'd just acquired Hendin's scale weights book, so maybe I thought it'd be nice to have a physical object or two. (It is.) But I don't really have a "collection" of them & wouldn't repeat. [ATTACH=full]1585218[/ATTACH] [INDENT][B]Byzantine Bronze or Islamic 20-sided scale weight[/B] (10mm, 5.92g), c. 6th-8th cent CE. [B]Style[/B]: "Polyhedron" or “spheroid with bird’s eyes” and "shallow indentation with central 'navel'-like protuberance." [B]Standard[/B]: Quarter Uncia or 4 scripula (of 1.44g) = 2 Dirhams (of 2.89g). [B]Ref[/B]: Hendin p. 226, No. 419, corr.; Holland No. 61, see also No. 35, 36; Holland (2009) Ch. 8, No. 128. [B]Prov[/B]: [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2570490']Agora Auctions 32 (A. de la Fe, NYC [Online], 14 Jul 2015), 52[/URL][/INDENT] [B][I]Game Piece or Scale Weight (or Other)?[/I][/B] Does this kind of thing look familiar to anyone? (Sorry for the old photos!) I stopped with "uncleaned" & metal detector lots when I decided they (or some of them) might not be so great for the archaeological record, but I have some interesting bronze odds and ends acquired ~25-15 years ago. [ATTACH=full]1585219[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1585220[/ATTACH] [INDENT][B]Uncertain Levantine Bronze Object[/B] (12mm, 3.65g), with incuse “dots.” [B]Standard (?)[/B]: Byzantine "1 Nomismata" weight (cf. [URL='https://www.persee.fr/doc/anata_1018-1946_2013_num_21_1_1348']Tekin 2016, No. 16 = Anamur 2.29.2003[/URL], square, "N," 3.67g); cf. Hellenistic or Roman period drachm standard, maybe consistent w/ certain local Dinar or Dirham standards (?). Could fit any number of the earlier Ancient Near Eastern weight standards going back two thousand years, but those are much rarer than Islamic/Byzantine type. [B]Style[/B]: Doesn’t quite match any in Hendin’s (2007) [I]Ancient Scale Weights[/I] or Holland’s (1986) “[URL='https://www.jstor.org/stable/43573712']Islamic Bronze Weights from Caesarea Maritima[/URL]” ([I]ANS Museum Notes[/I] Vol. 31) or (2009) [URL='https://www.academia.edu/3596498/WWOCM_Ch_8_Islamic_Bronze'][I]Weights and Weight-Like Objects from Caesarea Maritima[/I][/URL]. [B]Prov[/B]: Ex from a group of ~700 mostly Roman bronze coins from Lebanon via UAE, c. 2000-2010.[/INDENT] I've never seen one like this. Maybe a game piece? For [URL='https://www.vindolanda.com/blogs/blog/playing-games-at-vindolanda']something like the Roman Merels/Mill Game[/URL] or another ancient board game with moving pieces (widespread & popular in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean from the Bronze Age onward)? What else can it be? Not pierced, so not jewelry or fishing weight... Too small for projectile? If not a scale-weight, a counting piece or gaming piece is what I keep coming back to.[/QUOTE]
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