Cylinder Seal with Bird of Prey
Stone
Tell Asmar
3.0 cm x 1.8 cm diam.
A11416
Oriental Institute Museum
Cylinder Seal with Bird of Prey
This cylinder seal was made from a piece of 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 god, or deity, attacking a bird of prey with a large war-axe. Behind the deity is the sun god Shamash and a human worshiper with a bare head and beard. A second war-axe and an eight-pointed star can be seen in the field.
Collected by
Iraq Expediton
Excavated by The Oriental Institute 1932-1933
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.