Urartu Alabaster Stamp Seal

8TH-7TH CENTURY B.C.

5/8 in. (3.36 grams, 16 mm).

Bifacial round seal with mythical creatures, likely winged ibexes; pierced hole for suspension.

Provenance

Ex London, UK, collection, before 1988.

Literature

Cf. for the iconography Sass, B., Uehlinger, C., Studies in the iconography of northwest semitic inscribed seals: Proceedings of a symposium held in Fribourg on April 17-20, 1991, Zurich, 1993, p.59, fig.16.

Footnotes

Animal-headed creatures are often winged bird-headed figures with human body in the Urartu and Northern-Syrian seals of ‘dnplţ ‘bd ‘mndb type, but often winged, apparently ibex-headed figures appear on the seals of the type bqšt bt ‘bdyrh. The ibex-headed figures might belong to same group of semi-divine beings visible on the Assyrian art.

CONDITION

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LOT 1105