God holding rod and ring with feet on kneeling bull

Download image: 
between 1894 B.C. and 1595 B.C.
hematite
23.5 x 12.5 mm
Morgan Seal 391
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

Cylinder chipped.
"In 387 and 388, the god stepping on the dragon rests his hand on a scimitar. In 389 and 390 he is enthroned with his feet on the back of the dragon and appears to hold a rod. Such a rod, together with a ring, appears in the hands of a number of apparently different gods on Babylonian seals. For example, the two objects are held by the enthroned god in 391. This deity may be the sun god, since the latter appears without his saw but with a rod and ring in the relief on the stele bearing Hammurabi's code. This suggestion is possibly confirmed by the appearance in 391 of a bull in the sky and of another under the feet of the deity, since this animal is frequently depicted in association with the sun god on Old Babylonian seals... The double pleats in the robes of the deities resemble corresponding details in impressions on tablets of the time of Hammurabi and of Samsu-iluna, his successor (Louvre A. 527 J, E; Louvre A. 553 A, E). A similar dating is therefore suggested for 391." Porada, CANES, p. 48-49

Summary: 

"Suppliant goddess and worshiper before god with rod and ring on temple throne, his feet on kneeling bull -- Goddess (full face) -- God holding vase with three leaves protruding -- In field, nude male figure; bull (in sky); star disk in crescent above goat sitting on platform behind throne; nude female." Porada, CANES, p. 48-49

Place: 
Southern Mesopotamia.
Classification: 
Department: