Cylinder Seal with Contest Scene

2350 BC - 2100 BC
Greenstone
Original Site Unknown
3.0 cm x 1.9 cm diam.
A3710

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Cylinder Seal with Contest Scene

This cylinder seal was made from a piece of greenstone. 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 particular seal depicts a contest scene. On the left side of the impression, a nude figure of Gilgamesh (a heroic king) is seen grabbing a buffalo by a horn and foreleg. On the right side, a figure of Eabani is shown seizing a lion by the mane and foreleg. The inscription running along the edge of the scene includes the name of the person (Lugallam) who carved the seal.

Multimedia

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

Suggested Readings

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

Kovacs, Maureen Gallery. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1989.

McCall, Henrietta. Mesopotamian Myths. London: British Museum Publications, 1990.

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