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.
Catalog link
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department