Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

God and goddess holding cord of winged gate resting on back of kneeling bull

between 2340 B.C. and 2150 B.C.
marble ;
Morgan Seal 227
Description
1 cylinder seal : marble ; 32.5 x 18 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"[Seals] 224-233, which are executed with varying degrees of care, all show the bull kneeling. Usually a seated goddess holds one end of a cord that seems to pass through the gate, while a male attendant, who is standing or kneeling or possibly floating in the air, holds the other end." Porada, CANES, p. 28
Summary
Nude god on one knee, grasping one end of cord of winged gate that rests on back of kneeling bull -- Seated goddess holding other end of cord.
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department