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.

Mythological scene with boat propelled by human prow with god seated in its waist

between 2500 B.C. and 2350 B.C.
white marble ;
Morgan Seal 129
Description
1 cylinder seal : white marble ; 21 x 12 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"The principal mythological subject in the Second and Third Early Dynastic periods is a god steering a boat that moves of its own accord (126-129)... The lower register of 129 shows a shepherd with his flock. It seems possible that there is some association between this scene and that of the god in the boat, since the god appears in combination with a related theme, a milking scene, on a cylinder from Kish... 128 and 129, which show considerable modeling, probably belong to the later phase of the Third Early Dynastic period." Porada, CANES, p. 18-19
Summary
Above: Human prow propelling boat that has the god seated in its waist, barely visible -- Before boat, animal and vessel -- Below: Herdsmen driving three goats.
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department