Lapis lazuli cylinder seal of Sin-ishmeanni
Old Babylonian, about 19th century BC
From Mesopotamia
The design on this lapis lazuli seal is typical of the Old
Babylonian period; the owner of the seal is shown being brought
into the presence of a king by a goddess known as a lamma.
The seated king wears the head-dress of a god. From the end of the
third millennium BC until the time of this seal many of the rulers
of south Mesopotamia were deified. At all other times it seems that
Mesopotamian kings were considered to be appointed by the gods but
were not themselves divine.
The inscription identifies the seal owner as Sin-ishmeanni, son
of Sin-iddinam, and servant of Sumu-yamutbala. The latter was a
ruler in northern Babylonia around 1850 BC.
The small person with bow legs is a common motif on seals of
this period. He has variously been interpreted as a dancer in
rituals or entertainments, or as a type of demon, perhaps a
prankster or a protective spirit. The figure may be related to the
Egyptian god Bes, who was worshipped in Syria and other areas of
the ancient Near East.
D. Collon, Catalogue of the Western Asi-2 (London, 1986)