Cylinder Seal with Battle of the Gods

2350 BC - 2100 BC
Stone
Original Site Unknown
3.2 cm x 2.0 cm diam.
A28765

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Cylinder Seal with Battle of the Gods

This cylinder seal was made from a piece of black stone. It would have been rolled onto clay to produce a unique impression, or "signature," that was used either to indicate ownership or to safeguard personal possessions. Seals with scenes showing gods engaged in combat with other dieties are known only from the Akkadian period. The origins of the scenes, which are assumed to be mythological, are not known. This seal depicts the sun god Shamash grasping the beard of a second god who collapses on a mountain. It also depicts the god Ea with two streams of water flowing from his shoulders.

Multimedia

Cylinder Seals
What are cylinder seals and how were they used by the ancient Mesopotamians?

Suggested Readings

Black, Jeremy and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.

Collon, Dominique. Interpreting the Past: Near Eastern Seals. University of California Press. 1990.

Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

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