Cylinder Seal with Contest Scene

2350 BC - 2100 BC
Stone
Original Site Unknown
4.1 cm x 2.7 cm diam.
A30923

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Cylinder Seal with Contest Scene

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. This seal depicts two nude heroic figures attacking a lion. A third figure is shown fighting a bull.

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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