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All auctions / Glass / Akkadian Blackstone Cylinder Seal Bead w/ Presentation Scene
Near East, Mesopotamia, Akkadian. A compact cylinder of dark, close-grained stone, drilled lengthwise for suspension and carved in intaglio with a presentation scene. Two standing figures advance in profile toward a larger personage seated on a high-backed throne, likely a deity or a ruler receiving homage, the composition divided by vertical elements that may once have framed an inscription panel. The engraving is worked in short, deep cuts characteristic of the drill-and-cutting-wheel technique used across Mesopotamian workshops. Rolled across damp clay, such a seal produced a continuous frieze that served as signature, legal guarantee, and amulet at once. Worn strung at the wrist or neck, a seal of this scale was personal property, carried daily and buried with its owner. Accompanied by a modern impression showing the full rolled-out design. The presentation scene is the signature composition of Mesopotamian glyptic art, and it encodes a theology of access. A petitioner rarely approaches the enthroned god directly; instead an intercessory figure, often the personal protective deity known as the lamma, takes the worshipper by the wrist and leads him forward. The seated figure's throne, horned crown, and flowing vase are the vocabulary of divinity, while the standing attendants supply scale and deference. The motif reaches its fullest elaboration under the Third Dynasty of Ur, when the seated recipient is sometimes the deified king himself and the inscription panel names the seal's owner and his service to the throne. Cylinder seals functioned as the working signature of Mesopotamian administration for three millennia. Rolled over the clay sealing of a jar, a door, or a tablet envelope, the impression bound the transaction and identified the responsible party, the ancient equivalent of a notarized mark that could not be forged without the stone itself. Item # 204844
Estimate:$350
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Estimate:
$350
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