Worshiper with towel before deity in nimbus

between 900 B.C. and 875 B.C.
black serpentine
33 x 14 mm
Morgan Seal 679
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"In 678 the deity is seated in a high-backed chair. However, the more usual renditions of worshiping scenes in this style show the deity standing in a nimbus of stars (679-683). It seems likely that the deity here depicted is Ishtar, since a star nimbus seems to be among the specific attributes of this divinity in her manifestation as the predominant star goddess... Seals 678 and 679 are larger than the others of this group and may therefore belong to the early part of the ninth century. Moreover, in 678 the winged genius holding a pollen basket corresponds with numerous representations in the reliefs of Ashurnasirpal II, while in 679 the nimbus of the deity is rendered by means of short hatches producing outlines that resemble the rays of the winged sun on a glazed brick slab (orthostat) of Tukulti-Ninurta II, father of Ashurnasirpal II."--Porada, CANES, p. 81
Cylinder rubbed and damaged.

Summary: 

Worshiper with towel before deity in nimbus, between them crescent over altar.

Place: 
Southern Mesopotamia.
Classification: 
Department: