Cylinder seal.pdf

Cylinder seal

Old Babylonian cylinder seal, c.1800 BCE,hematite. The robed king makes an animal offering toShamash. This seal was prob-ably made in a workshop atSippar.[1]

Old Babylonian cylinder seal, c.1800 BCE,hematite. Linescan camera image of seal above (reversed to resemble an impression). A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wetclay. Cylinder seals were invented around3500 BC in the Near East, at the contemporary sites of Susa in

Mesopotamian limestone cylinder seal and impression—worship ofShamash, (Louvre)

south-westernIranandUrukin southernMesopotamia. They are linked to the invention of the latter’scuneiform writing on clay tablets.[2][3][4]_{They were used as an} ad-ministrative tool, a form of signature, as well as jewelry and as magical amulets; later versions would employ no-tations withMesopotamian cuneiform. In later periods, they were used tonotarizeor attest to multiple impres-sions of clay documents. Gravesand other sites hous-ing precious items such as gold, silver, beads, and gem-stones often included one or two cylinder seals, as hon-orificgrave goods.

The seals themselves are typicallymade from hardstones and some are a form ofengraved gem, but they may use glass or ceramics such as Egyptian faience. Many va-rieties of material such as hematite, obsidian, steatite, amethyst, lapis lazuliand carnelianwere used to make cylinder seals. As the alluvial country of Mesopotamia lacks good stone for carving, the large stones of early cylinders were imported probably from Iran.[5]_{Most seals} have a hole running through the centre of the body, and they are thought to have typically been worn on a neck-lace so that they were always available when needed. While most Mesopotamian cylinder seals form an image through the use of depressions in the cylinder surface (see lead photo above), some cylinder seals print images using raised areas on the cylinder (see San Andrés image, be-low, which is not related to Mesopotamian cylinder seals). The former are used primarily on wet clays; the latter, sometimes referred to as roller stamps, are used to print images on cloth and other similar two dimensional sur-faces.

Cylinder seals are a form ofimpression seal, a category which includes thestamp sealand finger ring seal. They survive in fairly large numbers and are often important as art, especially in theBabylonianand earlier Assyrian peri-1

Size comparison of seals, with their impression strips (modern/current impressions)

ods. Impressions into a soft material can be taken without risk of damage to the seal, and they are often displayed in museums together with a modern impression on a small strip.

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Uses

Cylinder seal impressions were made on a variety of sur-faces: • amulets • bales ofcommodities • bricks • clay tablets • cloth

• components of fabricated objects*doors • envelopes

• storage jars

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Theme-driven, memorial, and

commemorative nature

The images depicted on cylinder seals were mostly theme-driven, often sociological or religious. Instead of address-ing the authority of the seal, a better study may be of the thematic nature of the seals, since they presented the ideas of the society in pictographic and text form. In a famous cylinder depictingDarius IofPersia: he is aim-ing his drawn bow at an upright enraged lion impaled by two arrows, while his chariot horse is trampling a de-ceased lion. The scene is framed between two slim palm trees, a block of cuneiform text, and above the scene, the Faravaharsymbol ofAhura Mazda, the god representa-tion ofZoroastrianism.

This cylinder seal from Cyprus shows two nude female figures. Each holds a flower, a symbol of fertility.[6] _{The Walters Art}

Museum.

3 Cylinder seals

The reference below, Garbini, covers many of the follow-ing categories of cylinder seal. Dominique Collon’s book First Impressions, which is dedicated to the topic, has over 1000 illustrations.

A categorization of cylinder seals: • Akkadiancylinder seals.

• Akkadian seal, ca. 2300 BC, stone seal w/ modern impression. See National Geographic Ref. The glyptic (the Scenes) shows “God in barge", people, and offerings.

• Assyriancylinder seals. • Cypriote Cylinder Seals. • Egyptiancylinder seals.

• EgyptianNaqadaperiod (tombs, graves), (im-ported).

• EgyptianFaience; seePepi Iext link. • Hittitecylinder seals.

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ThisNeo-Assyriancylinder seal shows a ritual with winged pro-tective deities.Walters Art Museum.

• Clay envelope usage, etc.; seeKultepe. • Kassite (theKassites), cylinder seals. • Mittaniancylinder seals.

• OldBabyloniancylinder seals.

• Persiancylinder seals; seeDarius I, Robinson ref. • Proto-Elamitecylinder seals.

• Sumeriancylinder seals.

• Seals of the “Moon-God"; seeSin.

• see Ref. (Robinson), Seal of Ur-Nammu, 2112-2095 BC. Close-up picture of Seal, and adjacent 'modern impression', high resolution, 2X-3X natural size.

• "Shamash pictographic seals"; seeMari, Syria.

Enkias portrayed in various cylinder seals,British Museum

Assyria. Seals showing method of mounting; Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection

• Neo-Sumerian cylinder seals.

• see Ref (Garbini), “Seated God, and Worship-pers”, Cylinder seal, and a modern Impressin, p. 40, (British Museum, London).

• Syrian cylinder seals.

4 See also

• Scaraboid seal

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References

[1] Al-Gailani Werr, L., 1988. Studies in the chronology and regional style of Old Babylonian Cylinder Seals. Biblio-theca Mesopotamica, Volume 23.

[2] Mesopotamian cylinder seals, British Museum

[3] Why Cylinder Seals? Engraved Cylindrical Seal Stones of the Ancient Near East, Fourth to First Millennium B.C., by Edith Porada © 1993 College Art Association., The Art Bulletin, Vol. 75, No. 4 (Dec., 1993), pp. 563-582, JSTOR

[4] Ancient cylinder seal found in Iran, 2 March 2009, Press TV

[5] Why Cylinder Seals? Engraved Cylindrical Seal Stones of the Ancient Near East, Fourth to First Millennium B.C., by Edith Porada © 1993 College Art Association., The Art Bulletin, Vol. 75, No. 4 (Dec., 1993), pp. 563-582, JSTOR

[6] “Cylinder Seal with a Nude Goddess”. The Walters Art Museum.

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Further reading

• Bahn, Paul. Lost Treasures, Great Discoveries in World Archaeology, Ed. by Paul G. Bahn, (Barnes and Noble Books, New York), c 1999. Examples of, or discussions of Stamp seals, cylinder seals and a metal stamp seal.

• Collon, Dominique. First Impressions, Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East, (British Museum Press, London), 1987, 2005. Very comprehensive and up to date account, with many illustrations. The author has compiled several of the volumes cata-loging the collection of cylinder seals in the British Museum.

• Collon, Dominique. Near Eastern Seals, (British Museum, London), 1990. Shorter account which

mirror/reverse to be an impression seal).

• Metropolitan Museum of Art. Cuneiform Texts in theMetropolitan Museum of Art: Tablets, Cones, and Bricks of the Third and Second Millennia B.C., vol. 1 (New York, 1988). The final section (Bricks) of the book concerns cylinder Seals, with a foreword describing the purpose of the section as to instigate Research into cylinder Seals. The 'cylinder sealing' on the bricks, was done multiple times per brick. Some are of high quality, and some are not. (Also contains the only 2 elAmarna letters, in the USA, with Analysis.)

• Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ancient Near Eastern Art, (Reprint), Metr. Mus. of Art Photograph Stu-dio, Designed, Alvin Grossman, Photography, Lyn-ton Gardiner, (Metropolitan Museum of Art Bul-letin (Spring 1984)), c 1984. 56pgs.

• Metropolitan Museum of Art. Beyond Babylon, Art, Trade and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium BC, ed. Joan Aruz. 2008. Many cylinder seals of the period illustrated in color with impressions and de-scriptions.

• National Geogr. Soc. Wonders of the An-cient World; National Geographic Atlas of Arche-ology, Norman Hammond, Consultant, Nat'l Ge-ogr. Soc., (Multiple Staff authors), (Nat'l GeGe-ogr., R.H.Donnelley & Sons, Willard, OH), 1994, 1999, Reg. or Deluxe Ed. Origins of Writing, section, pp 68–75.AkkadianCylinder seal, with its modern seal impression. p. 71.

• Robinson, Andrew. The Story of Writing, Andrew Robinson, (Thames and Hudson), c 1995, paper-back ed., c 1999. (Page 70, Chapter 4: Cuneiform) Ur-Nammu cylinder seal (and impression), with 2095 BCE hieroglyphs, 2X-3X;Darius I, impres-sion only, of chariot hunting scene, 2X, ca 500 BCE.

7 External links

• a collection of seals and scarabs from international collectors and galleries, accompanied by an arche-ologist

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• Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets- by Mark B. Garrison and Margaret C. Root, at theOriental Institute webpage

• Cylinder seal of Pepi I Meryre. Serpentinite, click on pictures; (possibly not meant to be an 'Impression seal').

• Kassite, Seal Impression, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

• Seal impressions-(High Res), (1 Seal), God/Symbols explanations.

• 3D development simulation of the Cylinder Seal of Ibni SharrumonYouTube.

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Images

• File:Babylonlion.JPG Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Babylonlion.JPGLicense: Public domain Contrib-utors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Commons-logo.svg Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svgLicense: ? Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Cylinder_Seal,_Old_Babylonian,_formerly_in_the_Charterhouse_Collection_03.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Cylinder_Seal%2C_Old_Babylonian%2C_formerly_in_the_Charterhouse_Collection_03.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist:Hjaltland Collection

• File:Cylinder_Seal,_Old_Babylonian,_formerly_in_the_Charterhouse_Collection_09.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Cylinder_Seal%2C_Old_Babylonian%2C_formerly_in_the_Charterhouse_Collection_09.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist:Hjaltland Collection

• File:Cylinder_seal_Shamash_Louvre_AO9132.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Cylinder_seal_ Shamash_Louvre_AO9132.jpgLicense: Public domain Contributors:Jastrow(2005) Original artist: Unknown

• File:Cypriote_-_Cylinder_Seal_with_a_Nude_Goddess_-_Walters_42415_-_Side_A.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Cypriote_-_Cylinder_Seal_with_a_Nude_Goddess_-_Walters_42415_-_Side_A.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Walters Art Museum: <a href='http://thewalters.org/' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='Nuvola filesystems folder home.svg' src='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/20px-Nuvola_ filesystems_folder_home.svg.png' width='20' height='20' srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_ filesystems_folder_home.svg/30px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/ thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/40px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 2x' width='128' data-file-height='128' /></a>Home page<a href='http://art.thewalters.org/detail/30332' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='Information icon.svg' src='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/20px-Information_icon.svg.png' width='20' height='20' srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/30px-Information_icon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/40px-Information_icon.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='620' data-file-height='620' /></a>Info about artworkOriginal artist: Anonymous (Cyprus)

• File:Enki4.jpg Source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/Enki4.jpgLicense: PD-US Contributors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Mesopotamian_-_Cylinder_Seal_with_Winged_Deities_-_Walters_421194_-_Side_B.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.

org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Mesopotamian_-_Cylinder_Seal_with_Winged_Deities_-_Walters_421194_-_Side_B.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Walters Art Museum: <a href='http://thewalters.org/' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='Nuvola filesystems folder home.svg' src='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/20px-Nuvola_ filesystems_folder_home.svg.png' width='20' height='20' srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Nuvola_ filesystems_folder_home.svg/30px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/ thumb/8/81/Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg/40px-Nuvola_filesystems_folder_home.svg.png 2x' width='128' data-file-height='128' /></a>Home page<a href='http://art.thewalters.org/detail/12766' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='Information icon.svg' src='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/20px-Information_icon.svg.png' width='20' height='20' srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/30px-Information_icon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Information_icon.svg/40px-Information_icon.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='620' data-file-height='620' /></a>Info about artworkOriginal artist: Anonymous (Mesopotamia)

• File:Papiermuseum_Basel_2008_(4).jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Papiermuseum_Basel_2008_ %284%29.jpgLicense: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist:Gryffindor

• File:S03_06_01_017_image_2348.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/S03_06_01_017_image_2348. jpgLicense: Public domain Contributors: Brooklyn Museum Original artist:William Henry Goodyear

• File:San_Andres_Cylinder_Seal_print_1.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/San_Andres_Cylinder_ Seal_print_1.svgLicense: GFDL Contributors: Own work Original artist:Madman2001

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