bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
Selangor
Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
state, western
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. Estimated to date from the late
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
, the bell is a rare object of its
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...
and since 1949 has been part of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
Found with a number of iron tools in the city of Klang, the cast bronze artefact was one of three unearthed there; it is very similar to other bells that have been found in
Battambang
Battambang ( km, បាត់ដំបង, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is the capital of Battambang Province and the third largest city in Cambodia.
Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is the leading rice-pr ...
in
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
. One bell has been dated to AD 150.
Description
The Klang Bell has a high, narrow body crowned by a cup-like
lid
A lid, also known as a cover, is part of a container, and serves as the closure or seal, usually one that completely closes the object. Lids can be placed on small containers such as tubs as well as larger lids for open-head pails and drums. ...
and was designed to be worn by an elephant. The entire bell is decorated with vertical bands of rectangles composed of double
spirals
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point.
Helices
Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:motifs. In the lower part of the bell, three irregularly fashioned rows lie above a plain band. The bell is decorated in a similar way to the
Dong Son drums
A Đông Sơn drum (; also called Heger Type I drum) is a type of ancient bronze drum created by the Đông Sơn culture that existed in the Red River Delta. The drums were produced from about 600 BCE or earlier until the third century Common Era, ...
that were produced in large quantities in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
and elsewhere in southeast Asia between 600 BC and the third century AD, and are some of the region's finest examples of metalworking from this period.
Gallery
Image:British Museum Asia 37.jpg, Detail of the bell from Klang