One of the world’s oldest swords is located in the Armenian museum on Saint Lazarus Island in Venice.
The ultra-rare sword is around 5,000 years old, was made around the year 3,000 BC, came from the east of Western Armenia, in Hamshen (territory temporarily occupied by the Republic of Turkey) and was contained in a cabinet as part of a medieval collection, reports The Daily Mail.
Vittoria Dall’Armellina at Università Ca’ Foscari in Venice saw the sword in a small cabinet surrounded by medieval items at the Mekhitarist Monastery on the Saint Lazarus Island in the Venetian Lagoon.
She thought the weapon she had spotted didn’t look like a medieval artefact, but a much older sword, similar to those she had already encountered in her studies.
Strong resemblance to the twin swords of Arslantepe, as well as information about its metallic composition, allowed experts to determine that the sword dates back to around the end of 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC.
Due to less than optimal conditions, it has not been possible to detect any traces of usage.
But it’s believed the sword travelled from Trebizond in Hamshen to Venice in the second half of the 19th century.
This is due to an envelope containing a worn-out slip of paper that came with the sword.
The note on the paper, written in Armenian, talks about a donation to Father Ghevond Alishan, a famous poet and writer who died in Venice in 1901.
Further studies are being done on the weapon, the history of which is still ‘shrouded with mystery’.
