cylinder seal
- Museum number
- 89651
- Description
-
Red-brown limestone cylinder seal; figure in combat with one animal. The personage stands facing right with torso presented frontally; he has a long, pointed nose, a very short vertical beard and his hair is in a small bunch at the back of his head but as the top of seal has been damaged his headgear has been eliminated; he wears a Persian robe, depicted in outline, with horizontal strokes delineating the folds of the skirt; at his side, in his right hand, he holds a spear with a notched shaft and spherical butt, and with his left hand he grasps the foreleg of a rampant, snarling lion with one raised hind leg. The animal is long-necked, with its mane marked by a rwo of oblique strokes on the back of the neck, the abdomen is marked likewise and the tail curls up and round. To the side stands a palm-tree with notched trunk, its palm fronds rising upwards from a central core and the two bunches of fruit hanging down on the end of long stalks. Small gouged hollows are used to mark out particular features of the figures; the surface of the seal is worn and the upper edge has been broken or cut down, obliterating the top section of the engraving and accounting for the differences in diametre at the ends.
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 0.90 - 0.95
-
Height: 2.15 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- According to catalogue "the design is somewhat schematic and static which suggests more a ritual encounter than a real battle with a lion; the non-use of the spear reinforces this idea. The stance is similar to that of the non-violent Persian guards, both at Susa and Persepolis, although these stand in profile and their spears are held point upwards. A shell seal from Ville Royale at Susa, is similar in design, especially the Persian robed figure (who is crowned) holding a spear in an undentical manner, but its roughly-modelled style is not a close parallel to the linear engraving of" this seal. "Three black stone seals from the Ninurta temple cache at Nimrud although differing in subject matter and date, shows a similar tradition, possibly of Elamite or Iranian origin, with the use of a fine linear style; Parker states that the seals from this cache 'show a wide range of dates' (although none is likely to be later than the eighth century - J.E Reade, personal communication) and they include a number that 'may have connections with the hinterland of Iran'".
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Fair; the surface of the seal is worn and the upper edge has been broken or cut down
- Acquisition date
- 1845-1851
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 89651
- Registration number
- N.1167
