the uplifted hand of the deity is a moon-crescent and between him
and the worshipper are the cuneiform signs u and BA, positive on the seal
and hence negative
on the seal impression.
On the other face a hero wearing a long fringed robe is extending
his right
hand toward a rampant lion taller than himself. An unknown
cuneiform sign,
negative on the seal impression and seemingly composed of the
sign GIS With GA
+ su written inside it, appears between the two figures.
The seal would seem to be a forgery. It is too fresh looking to
be ancient.
The cuneiform makes no sense and is positive rather than
negative, although this
occasionally occurs on genuine seals, particularly in the later
period. The design,
however, is early and is found only on cylinder seals and not on
stamp seals. Fur-
thermore, it is badly executed; e.g., the hero is regularly naked
in the case of
genuine seals and takes firm hold of the lion.
-
(D. 1582). Red marble. Cylinder seal, slightly tapering toward
one end. 31 x
14 mm.
This seal is well executed, but it looks like a forgery. The
inscription is un-
readable in large part and it runs in the wrong direction. The
design is likewise
suspect. It shows a long-robed worshipper with the left leg bare,
standing with
left hand uplifted before a divine king with right hand uplifted,
seated on an
unusually lofty and highly ornamented throne. There is a monkey
squatting on a
pole between the worshipper and the king, at the bottom, and a
small eight-rayed
sun-disk set rather loosely within a crescent, at the top. Behind
the worshipper,
at the bottom, are two dancing manikins holding hands, each about
to set down
his foot on a low stool. Above them is a ladder-like device and
above this is a
large spread eagle with head turned to the right.
- -85 (D. 1583-1588). Soapstone. Cylinder seals. 34 x 12 mm.; 38
x 11 mm.; 34 x 13 mm.; 33 x 15 mm.; 36 x 10
mm.; and 32 x 14 mm. respectively.
These seals are so palpably forgeries that they are not worth
describing in detail. In every instance the
cuneiform inscription reads in the wrong direction, many of the
signs appear nowhere else, and the inscription is
unreadable. The designs, too, are quite incorrect and are largely
the product of the forger's own imagination or else
very free copies from genuine seals. Furthermore, the stones
themselves are artificially weathered, apparently by
being immersed for a long time in wet sand.
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