Son et Lumière ~ and something to write home about

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A few old squibs

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Mike's bronze cup ~ see The Armoury blog.

The ancient history of Lorestan is closely intertwined with the rest of the Ancient Near East. In the 3rd and 4th millennium BC, migrant tribes settled down in the mountainous area of the Zagros Mountains. The Kassites, an ancient people who spoke neither an Indo-European nor a Semitic language, originated in Lorestān. They would control Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire ca. 1531 BC and until ca. 1155 BC.

Luristan was invaded and settled by the Iranian Medes in the 2nd millennium BC. The Medes absorbed the indigenous inhabitants of the region, primarily theKassites as well as the Gutians, by the time the area was conquered by the Persians in the 1st millennium BC.

Small Luristan bronze artworks (always so spelled in English) of about 1000 to 650 BC reached the outside world from the late 1920s and are found in museums all over the world, where they are valued for their vigorous style, with many representations of animals.

Lorestan was successfully integrated into the Achamenid, Parthian and Sassanian empires. Parts of the region managed to stay independent during the Arab, Seljuk and Mongol invasions. Luristan, now Lorestān occupies 11 counties (shahrestans): Aligudarz County, Azna County, Borujerd County, Delfan County, Dorud County, Doureh County, Khorramabad County, Kuhdasht County, Selseleh County,Poldokhtar County, and as of 2013 Rumeshkhan Coun in Iran.

Below the map of Lorestan is a selection of cups of similar styles offered for sale from various auction houses.
These are drinking cups (not vessels for cupping a patient which tend to have a wider brim but are of a similar size). The 5th picture is a bowl. They all date from 1200 BC to 800 BC. 

Kit, Caboodle and Gongs

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