A Seljuq mace head or war hammer, Khurasan or Transoxiana, 12th or 13th century

Philippe Missillier Collection, no.17C

inscriptions

Possibly al-’aml , 'hope'

A war hammer with a similar elephant’s trunk and interlaced decoration on the socket is in the Keir Collection (Fehérvári 1976, p.87, pl.35d, no.105). Four further war hammers, each also with an elephant trunk, are in the Furusiyya Collection (nos.R-984, R-263, R-80, R-135; Mohamed 2008, p.258, no.248). These are catalogued as made in Khurasan and dated to the eleventh or twelfth century during the Ghaznavid or Ghurid periods. The elephant’s ears on the present example are less defined than on the Furusiyya pieces, and it may date from the twelfth or thirteenth centuries.