between 2000 B.C. and 1800 B.C.
hematite ;
Morgan Seal 308
Description
1 cylinder seal : hematite ; 21 x 9 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"Worship of deities, characterized as such by their horned miters, is portrayed in 308-312... Among small objects in the field, the combination of vessel and ball staff appears most frequently. These two objects are usually placed in a juxtaposition suggesting some relation between them (299, 302, 304, 308-310). Their association in this manner persists up to the end of the First Dynasty of Babylon. In contrast to the treatment of the ball staff in its few earlier representations (84, 190), the ball appears from now on at the side rather than in the center of the staff... The presence of the crook, which is typical of the fully developed style of the First Dynasty of Babylon, suggests a later dating for this seal." Porada, CANES, p. 37-39
Summary
Minor goddess and figure with weapon over shoulder facing goddess -- In field: drilling; vessel above ball staff; crescent and crook (before goddess).
Catalog link
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department