Details

LOT 0249

Old Babylonian Haematite Cylinder Seal with God Amurru

1900-1700 B.C.

(11.06 grams, 27 mm).

Showing three standing figures dressed in long robes, two columns of cuneiform inscription; 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: 'Description of Cylinder Seal of hematite, 28 x 13 mm. The engraving consists of a scene of three figures (unfinished) and a finished inscription of two lines. The figures are (from right to left), a god with arm lowered and extended (probably meant to be the sun god, Shamash), a central figures probably also meant as a deity, and another deity with one hand raised. A shepherd's crook appears between the figure on the left and the one in the centre, and two symbols have been begun in the sky byt cannot be identified. The inscription reads: ᵈAN-mar-dú dumu an-na, Amurru son of Anum. Amurru was the god of shepherding worshipped by the Babylonians, and the presence of the shepherds' crook in the design could mean that one of the unidentified gods is Amurru, since the crook is the symbol of Amurru. The seal is very clearly of Old Babylonian date, c. 1900-1700 B.C. and comes from ancient Babylonia or one of the closely adjacent regions. It is a standard type, but is interesting in that, being half finished, it shows the way in which Old Babylonian seal cutters set about their work. Hematite is a harder stone than any regularly used before the Old Babylonian period, and the semi-mechanical method of cutting stone used by the ancients enable hard stone to be but more easily than with simple, hand-held tools. Thus the three figures have been begun with the drill and the cutting wheel. Later, had the seal been finished the craftsman would have completed the task with hand-held tools to give a life-like impression to the figures.'; accompanied by a museum quality impression and a of pair of red stone beads.

Provenance

Private collection, London, UK.

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.