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.

Hero grasping ostrich and female sphinx

between 701 B.C. and 601 B.C.
white chalcedony ;
Morgan Seal 763
Description
1 cylinder seal : white chalcedony ; 16 mm diameter
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"The earlier group (747-752), comprising cylinders for which a Neo-Babylonian classification is suggested, seems to reflect influence of the Middle Assyrian modeled style, while the later group (753-769) illustrates the specific character of the Neo-Assyrian modeled style of the late eighth and of the seventh century B.C., though in some cases a seal included in this grouping may have been made in Babylonia."--Porada, CANES, p. 90
Lower part of cylinder broken off.
Summary
Hero grasping ostrich and female sphinx -- Winged sun disk and star in sky.
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department