Details

LOT 0217

'Professor Erlenmeyer’s First Cylinder Seal' A Neo-Sumerian Haematite Seal of Abbamu, Scribe, Son of Bazige

MESOPOTAMIA, THIRD DYNASTY OF UR, CIRCA 2100-2000 B.C.

1 in. (18 grams, 27 mm).

Finely carved in haematite with a formal presentation scene: a goddess sitting enthroned upon a dais, clad in a flounced robe and a multiple-horned tiara, her arm extended in reception; before her a similarly attired interceding goddess approaching, leading a robed worshipper into the divine presence; lunar crescent in the field, with three-line inscription within a panel: 'Abbamu, scribe, son of Bazige'; supplied with a museum-quality impression.

Provenance

From the private collection of Professor Dr. Hans (1900-1967) and Mrs Erlenmeyer, Switzerland.
The Erlenmeyer Foundation, Basel Switzerland, since 1981.
with Sotheby's, Western Asiatic Cylinder Seals and Antiquities from the Erlenmeyer Collection (Part 1), London, 9 July 1992, no.109.
Private collection, London, UK.

Accompanied by copies of the relevant Sotheby's catalogue pages.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13283-253486.

Footnotes

Prof Hans Erlenmeyer was a noted Swiss collector from 1943 to circa 1960; he and his wife established the Erlenmeyer Foundation.
This seal is of particular note as the first cylinder seal given to Professor and Mrs Erlenmeyer. Its imagery belongs to the religious and political language of the Third Dynasty of Ur, when order was restored after the collapse of the Akkadian dynasty. In the eyes of the ancient Mesopotamians, that earlier collapse could be understood as a sign of divine displeasure; under Ur III, renewed piety and correct devotion assumed central importance. The presentation scene seen here reflects that world precisely: the seal owner is led by a minor goddess, or Lamma, into the presence of his personal deity. Seals of this class are valued for their exacting workmanship and disciplined clarity of design. Though they lack the freer energy of the Akkadian age, they possess instead a ceremonial gravity and devotional precision that are wholly characteristic of Neo-Sumerian art.