Cylinder with standing male figure with a pair of animals to each side, restrung pair of red stone beads, old handwritten label '1647'; accompanied by a copy of an old scholarly note, typed and signed by W.G. Lambert, late Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Cream Fossil Shell, 37 x 22 mm. In the centre stands a divine hero, nude, and gripping the neck of a horned animal on either side, each of which is being attacked by a lion with erect tail. For a terminal there stands a tall tree. This is an early Akkadian seal from Mesopotamia or West Iran, c. 2300 B.C. The symbolism comes from temple herds, which were liable to be attacked by lions at this time. They believed that certain gods and divine heroes could rescue their animals from such attacks, and by showing such scene on their seals they hoped to achieve the result be sympathetic magic.'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]

PROVENANCE:
Armand Trampitsch, Glyptique Archéologie, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 13-14 May 1992, no.23 [Part].
Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in 1992.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.