Cylinder Seal with Staged Tower

Cylinder Seal with Staged Tower

This cylinder seal was made from a piece of white 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 a seated female figure drinking from a straw placed in a pot set in front of her. Near the pot is a triangular object considered by some scholars to be an altar or offering table, and by others to be a staged tower, similar to a ziggurat. In the first instance, the standing male figures who flank the object would be attendants. In the second, they would be builders carrying baskets of mud or stone on their heads. In the field above the figures are a number of recognizable symbols, including birds and a crescent-shaped boat, thought to be carrying a god.