Circa 600-400 BC. A breath-takingly beautifully forged iron akinakes (also acinaces) sword with a bronze pommel which has been decorated with two stylised griffins facing one another with conjoining beaks, bulging eyes, two large circles decorate the pommel which look to be eyes. The handle is slender formed of iron, with a bronze ridged tub with incised decoration which would have run alongside wood, leather, or cloth. A chevron-shaped handguard. The lengthy blade has sharpened edges, a shallow midrib on both sides, and a pointed tip. The griffin was a hybrid mythological animal with a body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle. It is the creature that projects strength in its duality. The “gold guarding” griffins were associated with gold deposits In the Black Sea region. Pliny, the Elder wrote “Griffins were said to lay eggs in burrows on the ground and these nests contained gold nuggets.” These examples are from Siberia, where the people were known as Scythians or Scytho-Siberians who left behind an imaginable number of tombs full of precious metalworks. Although horse warfare is what the Scythians are famous for, their weapons and saddles, lacking hard stirrups, seem better suited to dismounting and melee fighting; the acinaces would have been a primary weapon in that kind of situation. Size: L:635mm / W:60mm ; 545g. Provenance: From a private collection; previously was acquired from G. M. in London in 2017.