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.

Goddess holding ring(?)

between 800 and 700 B.C.
grey chert ;
Morgan Seal 792
Description
1 stamp seal : grey chert ; 20.5 x 12.5 x 10.5 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"The stamp seals... that can be related to Neo-Asyrian cylinders (789-794) have been grouped as Neo-Assyrian, even though it is possible that some of them were not made in Assyria... Seal 792, which is executed by means of coarse drilling, shows a goddess seated on a chair the back of which is decorated with stars as in drilled-style seals (699-701) that have been dated late in the eighth or in the seventh century (p. 84). A similar representation is found on a stamp seal from Nineveh. However, the motif of a dragon supporting the throne of the goddess as in 792 is rare (Louvre A. 731b). ". Porada, CANES, p. 96-97
Conical seal with rounded top and slightly convex oval base.
Summary
Goddess holding ring(?) and seated on chair with star-studded back, supported by dragon; before goddess, four-pointed star.
Classification
Department