Copper-alloy, 125 grams, 184 mm. 8th century BC. A cast copper-alloy snaffle-bit comprising two twisted shafts with thick interlinked rings at the inner end and larger ones at the outer ends where the cheek-pieces and reins were attached. The Amlash culture, named after the town in northern Iran, was the dominant idiom in this regon, Luristan, during the period 1400-900 BC. Reference: for the Amlesh culture, see Ghirshman, R. Iran: from the earliest times to the Islamic conquest, Harmondsworth, 1954. Provenance: from an old English collection. Very fine condition.