Cylinder Seal with Plowing Scene
Stone
Tell Asmar
3.7 cm x 2.1 cm diam.
A8579
Oriental Institute Museum
Cylinder Seal with Plowing Scene
This cylinder seal was made of mottled 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. The seal shows two gods plowing; the first god holds a plow pulled by a lion and a snake-like dragon that are guided by the second god. In the field surrounding the figures can be seen a bird, an eight-pointed star, a crescent, and an inscription.
Collected by
Henri Frankfort, Field Director of the Iraq Expedition
Excavated by The Oriental Institute 1931-1932
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.