Details

LOT 0204

Western Asiatic Kassite Cylinder Seal with a Worshipping King in Front of an Enthroned God

1500-1155 BC

1 3/4" (31.8 grams, 47mm).

A substantial granite cylinder seal with bearded king in a long robe, both hands raised to prayer, stands facing a god who is seated on a stool, raising his right hand in greeting; due to the rank perspective the figure of the king is much smaller; both figures wear a circlet or round headdress with a narrow edge, their hair in a bun on the shoulder and long robes with broad lower edging; at the top of the heads there is a 'Kassite cross' between the two figures, and above it, on a baseline, two antithetically grouped lying caprids with heads turned backwards and a tree of life between them; line borders round bottom and top of the seal; with an untranslated seven-line inscription.

Provenance

From the private collection of a North West London lady; previously with a central London gallery; formerly acquired before 1990; supplied with geologic report No. TL005203, by geologic consultant Dr R. L. Bonewitz.

CONDITION