Our sizeable Assyrian range is swelled further this week with the addition of Qurubuti Spearmen – how big are those shields!
The Assyrian king would maintain a brigade of his personal royal guard, this was probably one thousand strong.
The spearmen wore a lamellar corslet of either bronze or iron with leather pteruges to protect the groin. During the reign of Ashurbanipal the shields reached an enormous size, to provide maximum protection from missile fire. The shield was made from woven reed and covered with cured leather. The central boss and rim decoration would have been made from bronze.
The unit leader is equipped with a bronze mace, although axes were becoming more widely seen at this point. Possibly because of the increased contact with the Kimmerians and Skythians of the steppes. Rank is thought to be displayed on the helmet, via bands of bronze inlay. Commands would have been issued to the unit with a horn or trumpet, this allowed complex orders to be issued without the enemy necessarily being able to understand them.
The standard bears a depiction of the god Ashur on a golden disc. The winged figure was later adopted by the Persian empire and is still used to this day by the Zoroastrianism religion.
As previously mentioned, our Assyrian range is growing apace so it’s probably time to have a look at the other Qurubuti releases for this exciting range.
