Deity shouldering ax and cup at table

between 2000 B.C. and 1750 B.C.
hematite
27 x 16 mm
Morgan Seal 900
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"The cylinders of this group [900-908] contain a number of features distinctive of Cappadocian and of Syrian glyptic, besides some Mesopotamian elements, though the latter are less prominent here than in the Old Assyrian and in the provincial Babylonian group. ... The rendering of the animals in 900 by means of ropelike lines corresponds with that in 894, a Cappadocian seal of the Anatolian group. The type of ax shouldered by the seated deity in 900 appears only in Cappadocian (Weber 30) and in early Syrian designs ... Departure from Mesopotamian practice can be seen in the gesture of the worshiper (900, 906) tendering to the enthroned deity an antelope that he holds by its hind leg. This rendering is found again in the Syrian seals 910 and 937."--Porada, CANES, p. 113

Summary: 

Deity shouldering ax and raising cup while seated before table with two indefinable designs and fish above it, globe below it -- Worshiper holding up animal while approaching table -- Between deity and table, animal head -- At left: rampant lion and gazelle, both rearing over fallen gazelle -- Border of animals above and below.

Classification: 
Department: