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LOT 0992
Sassanian Stamp Seal Collection
3RD-4TH CENTURY A.D.
5/8 - 7/8 in. (26 grams total, 15-22 mm).
A group of four plano-convex stone stamp seals, each drilled for suspension and bearing an incuse design to base: a quadruped; cockerel with scorpion; ritual symbols; accompanied by a museum-quality impression of each seal. [4, No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a UK private collection, 1980-1983.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Large Babylonian Cuneiform Tablet Fragment Concerning the Study of the Sacrificial Liver
Late 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,120
A large clay tablet fragment bearing panels of cuneiform text to the principal face, separated by plain parallel lines; remains of cuneiform text to the reverse; a Babylonian treatise concerning the study of the liver of a sacrificial lamb; repaired. 533 grams, 15.6 cm wide
Specialised collection of cuneiform texts, the property of a London gentleman and housed in London before 1992. Thence by descent to family members. 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. The collection is exceptional for the variety of types, including some very rare and well preserved examples.
The prophetic practise of hepatoscopy, was called in Akkadian barûtu, the art of divination. It is a collection of omens in standard Akkadian (including many sumerograms) each composed of a protasis (description of the configuration of the organ at the time of observation by the diviner) followed by the apodosis giving the omen itself. The fragment preserves the beginning of the treaty on the face and the end on the reverse. Among the various omens is a so-called historical one concerning King Sargon of Akkad (ca. 2350 BCE). A colophon indicates that the text is a copy of an ancient original. The name of the scribe is Mudammiq-Adad. His work was verified by Ur-Nintinuga, a Sumerian name from the Cassite period. -
Western Asiatic Alabaster Dish
Circa 1600 B.C.Estimate: £300 - 400 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £100
A rectangular alabaster dish with classic Middle Bronze Age geometric schemes to the sidewalls and rim. 45 grams, 54mm
Acquired from Harmer Rooke galleries, New York, in 1986. From the collection of a West London, UK, gentleman. -
Babylonian Ur Vessel and Cuneiform Tablet Relating to Beer for Mercenaries in the Service of Babylon
Circa 2000-1500 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £780
A group of two ceramic artefacts: an Ur miniature pot of carinated form with everted lip, dated c.2000 B.C.; a roughly rectangular tablet bearing cuneiform text to both principal faces and to each side edge, a memo relating to an expenditure of beer for mercenaries in garrison in the service of Babylon (20th year Abi-ešuh 1711-1684 BC): '2 jars of 15 liters for the rations of the troop of the Cassites. Contribution of Ibnatum.' 100 grams total, 36-43 mm
From an old UK collection. From the private collection of Alf Baxendale (1941-2016) part 2, keen Egyptologist, member of the Egyptology Society, trustee of the Amarna Trust; thence by descent. Accompanied by two identification display cards. Accompanied by a copy of his obituary published in Horizon, The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust newsletter, Issue 18, 2017, p.21, by Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directing excavations at Amarna in Egypt.