Nishapur Calligraphic Pottery Bowl

With incuse frieze depicting a winged male figure wearing a tall headdress and holding a khopesh hooked sword, one foot placed on the corpse of a goat or ram, grappling with a rearing bull-headed winged beast and gripping its raised foreleg; behind, a second winged male figure with a sceptre and raised club to strike the bull-headed beast from behind; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 32.6 grams, 40 mm



From the property of late Mr SM, London, UK, 1970-1990s, thence by descent. Examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Modelled in the round, head with bulbous headdress and crest; loop absent. 5.87 grams, 20 mm



Private European collection, early 1990s. Thence by descent.

Haematite cylinder seal featuring two horizontal registers with worshipping parades comprising long-robed male priests wearing ankle-length garments, seated on the stool-shaped throne, elegantly raising their left hands to hold a cup; other male priests in long garments either holding a vessel containing holy water or oil, or standing in a solemn gesture with hands raised or clasped in front of their chests. 5.26 grams, 32 mm



Acquired in the 1990s. Ex West London family collection. Property of a Bristol, UK, gentleman.

Iconographies and religious scenes seen on Early Dynastic seals are renowned for the further elaborations that depict contesting scenes, usually portraying nude heroes confronting bull-men or rampant, roaring lions. However, animals and heroes were not employed as the favourite motifs during the last part of the Early Dynastic period. Increased popularity of funerary art and banquets were richly practised in Ur, given an ample amount of royal cylinder seals that bear banquet or seated-king related scenes. On Early Dynastic cylinder seals, the image of a seated male figure holding a cup cannot always be interpreted with an extender divinity. It might have suggested a ruler's identity within a royal banquet scene. However, on this seal, the holy vessel and the representations of male worshippers indicate a clear religious significance. Within the traditional Mesopotamian religion, secular kings would have obtained divine power if they had engaged with the goddess Inanna during a sacred marriage. The cup, containing holy ointment or oil, held in the king's hand, might have been as an emblem to signify the elevated rank of a deified king. It might also have been used as an alternative religious practice, connecting the secular authority and the divine power during the Early Dynastic period.