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A 5,000 year old sword It was discovered in an Armenian monastery in the Italian city of Venice, according to a statement issued this Friday by Ca 'Foscari University.
It was during a visit to the Museum of Saint Lazarus of the Armenians that Vittoria Dall’Armellina, a doctoral student and specialist in the evolution of these weapons in the ancient Middle East, found the sword in a collection of medieval objects.
Due to his knowledge on the subject, he noticed the great similarity that this tizona kept with those found in the Royal Palace of Arslantepe, in Turkey, dating back 5,000 years and they are considered the oldest in the world.
After analyzing the chemical composition of the metal used to make the weapon, it was found that it was made of arsenical bronze, which allowed the researchers to date it between end of century IV and principles of century III a. C., as well as locating its origin in the eastern Anatolia region, currently Turkey.
Unlike other swords of the same period, both the blade and the hilt lacked decorations, visible inscriptions or any type of distinctive feature, so it is suspected it was part of a funeral offering.
Thanks to a note written in Armenian found in the museum archives, it is known that the sword was recovered near the city of Trabzon, in a place called Kavak (northern Turkey) and brought to Venice in the mid-nineteenth century.
According to this record, the weapon was a donation made to Father Ghevond (Leonzio) Alishana, a famous poet, writer and scholar of archeology, by Yervant Khorasandjian, an art dealer and collector.