between 2500 B.C. and 2350 B.C.
white marble
21 x 12 mm
Morgan Seal 129
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.
Place:
Southern Mesopotamia.
Period:
Catalog link:
Classification:
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