[Previous][Contents][Next]


    A spread eagle has its head in profile facing the right and its tail spread out to the left. Four dots appear at various points as space fillers.
  1. (D. 1570). Chalcedony. Globular stamp seal with two sides slightly flattened, a transverse perforation, and a nearly circular base. 15 x 13 x 11 mm.
    A walking winged horse, with a moon-crescent appearing over the rump and a six-pointed star under the head as space fillers.
  2. (D. 1571). Chalcedony. Globular stamp seal with two sides flattened, a rather large transverse perforation, and a nearly circular base. 28 x 21 x 24 mm.
    A very conventional ibex-head, facing the right, is supported by two outspread wings, the latter being a device very characteristic of Sasanian seals.
  3. (D. 1572). Hematite. Globular stamp seal with two sides flattened, a transverse perforation, and an oval base. The back is decorated with a deeply incised ornamental design illustrated by H. H. von der Osten, op. cit. p. 4, Fig. 2, No. 577. 17 x 14 x 13 mm.
    A scorpion.
  4. (D. 1573). Limonite. Globular stamp seal with two sides slightly flattened, a large transverse perforation, and a nearly circular base. The back is decorated like that of the preceding seal. 14 x 13 x 13 mm.
    The design may be a badly executed scorpion, with the tail turned to the right rather than the left, but it is more likely that it was intended to represent some species of crab. Contrast the much superior representation of a crab in P. Horn and G. Steindorff, Sassanidische Siegelsteine, 18gi, Pl. IV, No. 1510.
  5. (D. 1574). Carnelian. Globular stamp seal with two sides flattened, a large transverse perforation, and an oval base. The back is decorated with a deeply incised ornamental design illustrated by H. H. von der Osten, op. cit. p. 4, Fig. 2, No. 608. 19 x 12 x 16 mm.
    A human hand has the wrist tied with a ribbon floating out in two wide streamers, one on each side.
  6. (D. 1575). Chalcedony. Globular stamp seal with two sides flattened, a transverse perforation, and an oval base. The back is decorated like that of the preceding seal. 23 x 16 x 18 mm.
    In the center is an ornamental or symbolic device, with an eight-pointed star below it. On the border is a Pahlavi inscription ending in a six-pointed star, representing the sun, set within a crescent. The inscription reads Batri zi Mitridan, "Batri, the son of Mitridan." The script and the late form of Pahlavi indicate a late date for the seal. Mitridan corresponds to Mihrdan in F. Justi, op. cit. p. 205a, and to Mitrden, ibid. p. 213b, but I can discover no parallel to Batri, unless one were to take , ibid. p. 56a, as one. Bait and Bati, differing only slightly from Batri, appear rather often on Sasanian seals.18

18. see e.g., A. D. Mordtmann, ZDMG, XXXI, 1877, p. 588, Nos. 10 and 11.

[Previous][Contents][Next]


Created by the Digital Documentation Center at AUB in collaboration with Al Mashriq of Høgskolen i Østfold, Norway.

981201 PN - Email: hseeden@aub.edu.lb