Cylinder Seal with Bull-Men and Lion
Calcite
Tell Agrab
3.2 cm x 2.4 cm diam.
A21560
Oriental Institute Museum
Cylinder Seal with Bull-Men and Lion
This cylinder seal was made from a piece of calcite. 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 bull-men slaying a lion, which, in turn, attacks a bull. In the field, between the figures, are two leaves and a calf's head.
Collected by
Henri Frankfort, Field Director of the Iraq Expedition
Excavated by The Oriental Institute 1936-1937
Multimedia
Cylinder Seals
What are cylinder seals and how were they used by the ancient Mesopotamians?
What is Conservation?
Ever wonder what a conservator does? Oriental Institute Museum conservator Laura Laura D'Alessandro tells you all about her job in this video.
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.