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.

Two worshipers before enthroned deified king or god holding cup

between 2000 B.C. and 1800 B.C.
green felsite ;
Morgan Seal 296
Description
1 cylinder seal : green felsite ; 25 x 15 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"Seals 296-305 depict worship of a figure rendered like the deified kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur, with the difference that the figure is now often seated on a temple throne, earlier reserved for gods of the pantheon. Consequently the figure may here represent not a deified king but a major deity ... [S]tandards and small, probably apotropaic objects were increasingly used by the seal cutters of this time. Seal 296, for example, shows a lion-club standard."--Porada, CANES, p. 37-38
Summary
Two worshipers before enthroned deified king or god holding cup -- In field: crescent; curved weapon(?) -- Terminal: lion-club standard.
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department