Neo-Babylonian Cylinder Seal

$947.78

An extremely fine Neo-Babylonian cylinder seals featuring a detailed engraved impression encircling the surface. On the top register, warrior heads decorated with crescent-shaped helmets are sensitively alternated with king’s heads that are presented wearing crowns with three protruding spikes. On the middle register, motifs of lions are arranged in a symmetrical composition, indicting traditional adherence to Early Dynastic Period decorative traditions. Griffins, with highly definitive body contours and floral patterns, are finely engraved on the bottom register. This cylinder seal is pierced for suspension, suggesting that it might have either been used as an administrative cylinder seal or a personal ornament.

 

 

 

Date: Circa 626-543 century BC
Period: Neo-Babylonian period
Condition: Extremely fine, the seal will come with its modern impression.

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SKU: HL-38 Category: Tags: ,

Glyphic art finds its root in Ancient Mesopotamia, as early as the 7th millennium BC, however carved cylinder seals appeared for the first time around the 4th millennium BC. Cylinder seals would have been rolled on soft clay to leave impressions and personal signatures. Such seals appear much more elaborately decorated than previous examples, with most of the images closely related to traditional Near Eastern religious scenes. Iconographies featuring only decorative patterns, as seen on this fine example, are much rarer.

 

 

Weight 4.3 g
Dimensions H 1.9 cm
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Reference: For a similar item, The Metropolitan Museum, item 36.106.2.