Uruk Cylinder Seal of Sacred Bulls and Religious Byres

An extremely fine Uruk hardstone, possibly diorite, cylinder seal featuring a horizontally engraved religious scene, divided into two registers. On the top register, naturalistically portrayed sacred bulls are walking to the right, alternating with the top parts of the religious byres. Six cuneiform characters, engraved vertically and framed by a rectangular border, are arranged within the empty space between two standing bulls, probably reading as ‘Inanna, nin…du-munan’. On the lower register, two dome-shaped byres are presented with a recumbent and a standing bull. Neatly carved geometric incisions demonstrate the detailed architecture of the byres, attesting to the representations of religious byres that appear on the Uruk cylinder seal. The top parts of the byres are presented as long, thin branches, with multiple globular shapes of various sizes protruding from the sides. This can either be interpreted as a religious symbol, similar to the goddess Inanna’s bundle, or can be regarded as a date tree suggesting fertility within late Uruk pictorial traditions. The bulls are all engraved in a typical Uruk naturalistic manner, featuring smooth, elegant body contours and strong muscular physiques.