Details

LOT 0220

Mitanni Faience Cylinder Seal with Kneeling God and Animals

1500-1200 B.C.

1/4 - 1 1/8 in. (6.44 grams total, 8.1-28.8 mm).

Cylinder with cord and bead handles; 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 Faience, Cream, 29 x 14 mm. The area of the design is divided into a smaller upper and a larger lower register. In the upper register are three horned animals, two with their heads down browsing, the third recumbent with its head up. In the lower register there is a kneeling god holding up a dead horned animal by its hind leg; two standing figures (priests) with a stylized tree between them; and two facing sphynxes above a fallen horned animal. This seas belongs to the Mittani common style, c. 1500-1200 B.C., and is one of the better specimens of its type. It probably comes from Syria, though Mitanni seals are found also in Palestine, Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia. This double register type seems to be restricted to Syria. The tree is a symbol of the storm god, Teshub, but it is not known which god is represented by the horned animal.'; accompanied by a museum-quality impression. [No Reserve]

Provenance

UK private collection, acquired 1980-1983.

Accompanied by a copy of a scholarly note, typed and signed by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert in August 1990.
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.