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cylinder seal
Object Type
cylinder seal
Museum number
89577
Description
Faience, now brown, probably originally glazed, cylinder seal; a demon with a human head and torso, a double belt, the lower body and tail of a scorpion and bird's legs faces right and aims an arrow towards a retreating winged bull, above which is a crescent. There are two diagonal wedges behind the demon's head. Line borders at top and bottom; worn.
Cultures/periods
Assyrian
Excavator/field collector
Excavated by:
Sir Austen Henry Layard
Findspot
Excavated/Findspot:
South East Palace (Nimrud)
Materials
glazed composition
Technique
carved
Dimensions
Diameter:
1.25 centimetres
Height:
3.25 centimetres
Curator's comments
According to catalogue "analysis by XRD and XRF indicated that a copper colourant had probably been used. Usually a blue or green glaze is produced by this colourant in oxidized cupric state. However reddish-brown surface areas may indicate that the seal was coloured red by copper in the reduced cuprous state".
Bibliographic references
Collon 2001a / Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum: Cylinder Seals V: Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods
(33)
Location
Not on display
Condition
Fair; worn.
Subjects
mammal
arachnid
bird
sun/moon
devil/demon
Acquisition date
1851
Department
Middle East
BM/Big number
89577
Registration number
N.1071