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.

Hero with scimitar attacking lion-griffin

between 701 B.C. and 601 B.C.
white chalcedony ;
Morgan Seal 768
Description
1 cylinder seal : white chalcedony ; 25.5 x 12 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"The earlier group (747-752), comprising cylinders for which a Neo-Babylonian classification is suggested, seems to reflect influence of the Middle Assyrian modeled style, while the later group (753-769) illustrates the specific character of the Neo-Assyrian modeled style of the late eighth and of the seventh century B.C., though in some cases a seal included in this grouping may have been made in Babylonia."--Porada, CANES, p. 90
Summary
Hero with scimitar attacking lion-griffin -- In field: pair of wedges above stylus and spade on platform -- Crescent (above lion-griffin) -- Fish and rhomb (below lion-griffin) -- Star above bird eating fruit(?).
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department