cylinder seal
- Museum number
- 132847
- Description
-
Grey-brown chalcedony cylinder seal; antithetical group with a hero with four wings of equal length facing right between two rearing sphinxes; in the lower field to the left of him, a fish set horizontally with its head to the left, and to the right of him, a rhomb. The whole design consists of diagonal grooves and lines, and drill-holes of two main sizes; horizontals are only used for some of the wing-feathers and the fish and the rhomb. The hero's head consists of a large drill-hole, with smaller ones for his hair and beard, and his nose indicated by two short lines forming two sides of a triangle; his shoulders are marked by two drill-holes and his open skirt is a row of drill-holes, with horizontal lines between his legs to mark its lining, and more drill-holes for the kilt. Note that the sphinxes are also bearded; they have straight tails which cross each other and end in a drill-hole, and two wings are shown, with the back one uppermost; the sphinx on the left has longitudinal lines on its body. Edges chipped and worn. Ends slightly convex.
- Production date
- 7thC BC (?)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 1.50 centimetres
-
Height: 3.80 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- This seal is presumed along with other seals referenced to have come from the same workshop which was either operated in Assyria and sent products back to Babylonia or operated in Babylonia and produced seals for the Assyiran market. There is a provenanced example of a cornelian seal from Nippur which supports a Babylonian origin, as suggested by the hero's wings of equal length but other products of the workshop are more clearly Assyrian , including one from "Assyrian Ruins", one acquired by Layard and Louvre A.700, which is unfortunately unprovenanced and shows winged genies on either side of a winged disc above a stylised tree. These seal should probably be dated to the seventh century. A seal from the same workshop was impressed on a tablet found at Tell Sheikh Hamad on the Khabur. It is described as a seal-ring impression but was certainly made by a cylinder seal which was impressed rather than rolled-out, with the central four-winged figure visible. It belonged to Ubru-Harran, son of Ilutu-upaq. The tablet (which seems to be hollow?) was found with three others in context which can be dated between 612 and 602 BC; this provides a 'terminus ante quem' for the manufacture of this type of seal.
Cf. H Kuhne, 'Vier spatbabylonische Tontaflen aus Tall Sheh Hamad, Ost-Syrien', Padova 1993, tablet no.3, pp.82-83, 102, 107, figs. 24 & 36 and fig.35 on tablet no.2.
L Delaporte, 'Musée du Louvre, Catalogue des cylindres orientaux II. Acquisitions', Paris 1920-1923, pl.89:8.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Fair; edges chipped and worn.
- Acquisition date
- 1960
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 132847
- Registration number
- 1960,0517.19