Tree flanked by goats

between 499 and 400 B.C.
blue chalcedony
30 x 22 x 18 mm
Morgan Seal 840
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"840 and 841 perpetuate Mesopotamian tradition in their rigidly symmetrical and centralized composition. Strictly speaking, 840 can be classified as Achaemenian only because its motif--two animals or monsters flanking a tree--does not occur on late Neo-Babylonian cylinders, while it is found in seal impressions of unquestionably Achaemenian style (Philadelphia 850)."--Porada, CANES, p. 105
Conical seal with rounded top and slightly convex oval base.

Summary: 

Tree with crescent above, goat at either side.

Period: 
Classification: 
Department: