600-400 BC. Scythian. A rare iron Acinaces-type sword with pointed, elongated triangular blade, narrow V-shaped, unusual openwork rectangular handle (probably originally encased in wood, leather or cloth) and an elliptical pommel. The acinaces is a type of dagger or short sword used mainly in the first millennium BC in the eastern Mediterranean, especially by the Medes, Scythians and Persians, before it was adopted by the Greeks. The Scythians were a warlike nomadic people who dominated the Pontic Steppe (the area North of the Black Sea and stretching as far as Central Asia) in the 7th-3rd centuries BC. Excellent condition; on a custom-made stand.Size: L:495mm / W:70mm ; 475g; Provenance: Property of a North London professional; previously acquire on the UK/European art market before 2000.