Scale Helmet

[Kai]

Thank you all for your thoughts! :-)
I agree the sarcophagus is not evidence for scale armoured helmets. (the scales may be really intending to imitate feather, but when I say scales I mean small metal plates attached to a backing material).
Indeed the embossed metal seems to be a likely option, which leaves us with three rather very familiar options:

1) It is artistic license: we just can never exclude it, unless we have firm evidence
2) It is embossed metal: having a tradition of embossed helmets this is not unlikely
3) It is a leather (?) helmet covered with metal (?) scales: though having a much weaker tradition for such helmets it is not impossible, especially as such helmets would be easier lost than the all metal ones.

They are familiar because these are exactly the options we discussed in the debate about the body-armour on that sarcophagus. However the likeliness of the options was different:

1) the same...
2) the possibility of breastplates with embossed scales, while perfectly possible, lacks hard evidence
3) it is almost the same with the possibility of scale body-armour possessing some features of the officer’s armour like the shoulder flaps. However since such armour would be easier lost than the all metal one, the absence of archaeological evidence cannot surprise.

But since in the case of the helmets 2) seems more likely, does this impinge on the case of the body-armour? I am really not sure here.

I would also stress the artistic license since the imagery of scale armour and helmet with eagle head on top of it is very strong – but it must come from somewhere in the military, must it?

Regards
Kai