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Masterpiece Medieval Crusader Bronze Arrowhead — Siege of Acre Type (5 cm)
Authenticity & Guarantee
Item Specifications
Object: Cast Bronze Socketed Bodkin / Diamond-Section Arrowhead
Culture / Period: Medieval Crusader States (Kingdom of Jerusalem / Outremer)
Date Range: Circa 12th Century AD – 13th Century AD (c. 1189–1291 AD / Siege of Acre)
Dimensions: 5.0 cm length (Heavy Armor-Piercing Bodkin Class)
Material: Heavy Cast Bronze (Copper Alloy)
Form & Architecture: Rhomboid / diamond-shaped flattened leaf blade with a sharp central midrib, tapering smoothly into a hollow split socket engineered for rapid mounting onto wooden crossbow quarrel or archery shafts
Condition: Exceptional, complete archaeological state. Intact cutting edges, reinforced tip, open mounting socket, preserved under a heavy pale bone-tan and sandy desert burial encrustation over a dark green bronze cuprite core.
Historical Context & Siege of Acre Warrior Lore
The Siege of Acre & Crusader Outremer Archery
During the Third Crusade and the legendary Siege of Acre (1189–1191 AD), crossbowmen and archers attached to the Knights Templar, Hospitaller, and Royal Levantine garrisons engaged in intense missile warfare against Saladin’s Ayyuoffer forces. Heavy socketed bronze points with rhomboid profiles were favored for their structural rigidity and armor-penetrating power against heavy gambesons and chainmail (hauberks) (Ref: Nicolle, Crusader Warfare: Muslims, Mongols and Franks in the Battle for the Holy Land, Hambledon Continuum, 2007; Bartlett, The Crusades: An Illustrated History, Sutton Publishing, 1999).
Rhomboid Bodkin Geometry
The flared diamond blade profile backed by a solid central midrib ensured maximum kinetic transfer upon impact. Cast in durable copper alloy, socketed bodkins of this class were designed to withstand the tremendous draw weights of medieval war bows and siege crossbows deployed along the coastal walls of Acre.
Typological Analysis & Exact Classification
Exact Typological Classification
Comparable Archaeological Examples & Museum Accession Numbers
Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA Collection): Crusader period bronze arrowheads recovered from maritime and land excavations at Akko (Acre).
British Museum (Accession No. 1980,1001.45): 12th–13th century Crusader States socketed bronze arrowhead from Outremer.
Ashmolean Museum (Accession No. AN1972.114): Medieval Levantine Crusader socketed quarrel point.
TRN-1-5
