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The Hasanlu (Iran) Gold Bowl in context: all that glitters…

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2014

Michael D. Danti
Michael D. Danti*
Affiliation:
*Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA (Email: mdanti@bu.edu)
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Abstract

The discovery of a crushed golden bowl in the remains of the Iron Age citadel of Hasanlu in 1958 attracted considerable media attention at the time. The circumstances of its loss have long remained unclear, but were clearly associated with the violent destruction of the site in c. 800 BC. Detailed review of the find context and the skeletons found nearby now suggests that the bowl was being looted during the sack of the citadel by Urartian soldiers from an upper room where weapons, armour and fine metal vessels were stored. The enemy soldiers carrying off the Gold Bowl died in the attempt when the upper floors of the building collapsed, plunging them to their deaths.

Keywords

IranIron Age IIUrartuGold Bowlwarfareweaponryarmourlooting
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 88 , Issue 341 , September 2014 , pp. 791 - 804
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2014

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