Dolomite (magnesian limestone) cylinder seal
Third Dynasty of Ur, about 2100-2000 BC
From Mesopotamia
This is a typical seal of the late third millennium BC where a
worshiper stands before a standard and a god. The cuneiform
inscription translates: 'From Meslamta-ea, his master; for the life
of Shulgi, god of his country, king of Ur, king of the Four
Parts.'
The seal was dedicated, probably in a temple, to King Shulgi
(2094-2047 BC). The inscription may have been recut since it is
incomplete; the name of the person making the dedication is not
given and there is no mention of the making of the seal.
Shulgi is described as a god in the inscription. The idea that a
king could be a god only emerged under the preceding ruling dynasty
of Agade (Akkad). Under King Naram-Sin (2254-2218 BC) there was a
change in royal titulary and Naram-Sin is described as divine in
inscriptions. This is also seen in the way that Naram-Sin is
represented on monuments: he is much taller than the other humans,
and wears a horned helmet, the attribute of gods. Kings of southern
Mesopotamia continued to be deified into the second millennium BC,
after which they were believed to have been appointed by the gods,
but not themselves divine.
D. Collon, Catalogue of the Western Asi-1 (London, 1982)