I've just stumbled across a curious article from last October by Sean Manning of Book and Sword. It concerns the analysis of an iron/steel akinakes purchased "from dealers in Tehran" along with iron Luristan-style blades in the 1960s.
The dagger is a fairly standard design and could fit in with known finds from Achaemenid territory or elsewhere in Asia. What interests me is that the article includes a photo of the top of the pommel, the first I've seen of an iron akinakes, showing a tang with a wide rectangular cross section peened flush. The pommel was apparently a separate piece from the rest of the grip, with the sturdy peened tang holding it firmly in place.
Assuming this is a genuine Iron Age artefact, it is the first evidence I've ever seen for the construction of an iron akinakes hilt, and indicates that the iron akinakes was NOT created in a single piece like the bronze proto-akinakai from Central Asia.
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