Contest frieze with bull-man, lion, stag, and hero wearing flat cap and kilt; lion and hero in feather crown and fringed kilt

between 2340 B.C. and 2150 B.C.
lapis lazuli
49 x 9.5 (10) mm
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Morgan Seal 145
Notes: 

"In the seals deriving from the beginning of the Akkad period, the Early Dynastic frieze of closely interwoven figures gradually breaks up into two or three groups of contestants... These scenes... show the lack of cohesion in composition that is characteristic of Early Akkad seals. Equally characteristic is the more developed modeling of the figures. Lastly, a number of details serve to distinguish this class of seals: the attitudes of the heroes and of the bull-men, who often show a characteristic flexion of the elbow in reaching toward the top of the victim's head; the lion's head frequently seen from above, as in the representations of the Third Early Dynastic period; the attire of the heroes, most often plain or fringed kilts, with flat caps or feather crowns appearing in several instances."--Porada, CANES, p. 21

Summary: 

Above: Bull-man restraining lion that attacks stag held by hero wearing flat cap and kilt -- Lion reversed by hero in feather crown(?) and fringed kilt who steps on lion's head -- Terminal: Star spade -- Below: Lion attacking horned animal protected by bull-man -- Lion attacking bull held by hero wearing feather crown(?).

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