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.

Rampant bull fleeing before charioteer and archer

between 701 B.C. and 601 B.C.
white chalcedony ;
Morgan Seal 778
Description
1 cylinder seal : white chalcedony ; 23 x 10 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"It is possible that 778 is not of Assyrian origin, since its flat engraving conforms more closely to cut- than to modeled-style technique. Moreover, the posture of the bull with its forelegs in the air and its head turned backward approximates more nearly that of the bull in the cut-style 742 than that found in any Assyrian renderings of bulls either on seals or in reliefs. It sems likely therefore that this seal was made by a Babylonian engraver.. Porada, CANES, p. 94
Summary
Rampant bull fleeing before two horses drawing chariot bearing charioteer and archer -- Bird and star in sky.
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department