VI. SEAL OF THE OLD ASSYRIAN (CAPPADOCIAN) PERIOD (c. 2000 to c.
1850 B.C.):
- (D. 1539). Basalt. Cylinder seal. 20 x 9 mm. Enlarged on Plate
VI.
Two long-robed deities with both hands uplifted face each other,
with a sit-
ting antelope in the space between their knees. Their turbans
have a long streamer
at the back and the skirts of their robes are represented as in
the case of the
human figure on the right in H. Frankfort, op,. cit. Pl.
XLl, but the costume is
not necessarily Old Assyrian, as Frankfort has shown, op. cit. p.
245, n. 3.
Flanking the two deities is an erect serpent on the left and a
long-robed goddess
on the right, wearing a high horned cap and a long pleated robe,
and flanking
her is a god in knee-length tunic carrying a bow in his right
hand. Several dots
around the heads of the first two deities help to identify the
seal as Old Assyrian.
VII. SEAL OF THE ISIN-LARSA PERIOD (c. 2000 to c. 1800 B.C.):
- (D. 1540). Dark serpentine. Cylinder seal with a large axial
perforation. 24 x 12 mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a long
robe fringed down the front, leads a worshipper
wearing a long fringed wrapper into the presence of an enthroned
divine king, wearing a long flounced robe and
holding a cup, represented by a dot, in his uplifted right hand,
above which is a sun-disk, represented by a dot. The
cuneiform inscription on the left is frequently found on seals of
this time and reads d Samasd
A-a, -a, "Shamash, Aya," the god Shamash and his consort Aya. The
several dots in the design help to identify the
seal as belonging to the Isin-Larsa period.
VIII. SEALS OF THE OLD BABYLONIAN PERIOD (C. 1900 to c. 16oo
B.C.):
- (D. 1541). Chrysoprase. Considerably worn cylinder seal with a
large piece chipped off along the side. 27 x 16
mm.
An interceding goddess with left hand uplifted, wearing a long
flounced robe, leads a long-robed worshipper
into the presence of an enthroned divine king (partly broken
away), wearing a long flounced robe and holding a cup
in his uplifted right hand, above which is a sun-disk set within
a crescent. Between the king and the interceding
goddess is a bow-legged dwarf; between the goddess and the
worshipper is a crook standing upright on the ground;
behind the worshipper is the divine standard appearing on NO. 22
above, then a squatting monkey, and then a
standing antelope partly broken away. Above the antelope is the
first half of a boxed inscription, d Samas.
The rest was undoubtedly dA-a, to make the inscription
"Shamash, Aya," which is so characteristic of
seals of this time, already noted on the preceding seal.
-
(D. 1480). Hematite. Partly corroded cylinder seal. :24 x 15
mm. Enlarged on Plate VI.
At the bottom is a sacrificial scene, showing a quadruped (too
badly corroded to be identified) on his back on an
altar, held by his forelegs by the man on the right
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