V. SEALS OF THE Ur III PERIOD (C. 2135 to C. 2025 B.C.):
- (D. 1482). Dark serpentine. Cylinder seal. 29 x 17 mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a horned
cap and a long flounced robe, leads a
worshipper, wearing a skullcap and a long wrapper fringed down
the front, into the presence of an enthroned goddess,
wearing a horned cap and a long flounced robe. Between the two
goddesses, at the top, is a spread eagle. On the left
there is a blank space for an inscription which was never
inserted.
-
(D. 1535). Lapis lazuli. Cylinder seal. 16 x 7 mm. Enlarged on
Plate V.
A worshipper in a long pleated robe and with hands folded appears
before
an enthroned divine king, wearing a long robe, holding a cup in
his uplifted right
hand, and having a long-robed attendant behind him holding a
palm-leaf over his
head. Between the worshipper and the king, at the top, is a
sun-disk set within a
crescent. Behind the worshipper is an interceding goddess with
both hands up-
lifted, wearing a long flounced robe. Behind her is a divine
standard, consisting
of an eight-pointed star set on a pole mounted on a platform, or
the star may be
the cuneiform sign for deity with other indistinct signs
following. In front of
the interceding goddess, at the bottom, is a squatting monkey.
-
(D. 1480. Basalt. Much weathered cylinder seal. 26 x 13 mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a long
robe, leads
a long-robed worshipper into the presence of an enthroned deity,
also wearing a
long robe.
-
(D. 1536). Lapis lazuli. Much weathered cylinder seal. 22 x 12
mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a long
robe, leads a
long-robed worshipper into the presence of an enthroned deity,
wearing a long
flounced robe. The cuneiform inscription on the left is too
faintly preserved to
be read.
-
(D. 1537). Dark serpentine. Much worn cylinder seal. 20 x 11
mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a long
robe, leads
a long-robed worshipper into the presence of an enthroned deity,
wearing a long
flounced robe. The cuneiform inscription on the left is too
faintly preserved to be
read.
-
(D. 1538). Alabaster. Considerably worn cylinder seal. 27 x 16
mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a long
pleated robe,
leads a long-robed worshipper into the presence of an enthroned
divine king,
wearing a long flounced robe and holding a cup in his uplifted
right hand, above
which is a moon-crescent. Behind the worshipper is a
panther-headed similar10
standing upright on the ground and behind this is a man in a
short tunic reaching toward it.
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10. This divine standard is like those illustrated in H. H. von
der Osten, Ancient Oriental Seals in the Collection of Mrs. Agnes
Baldwin Brett,
1936,
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p. 52, Fig. 19, Nos. 52-54. Moortgat, op. cit. No. 296, calls the
scimitar lion-headed, whereas Frankfort, op. cit. p. 143, calls
it panther-headed.
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