Stamp and Cylinder Seals of Ancient Near East

In the ancient Near Eastern world, people created seals to indicate one’s ownership over their properties, much similar to personalized stamps or signatures we use today. There were largely two types of stamps: Stamp seal and Cylinder seal. 

Stamp seals are in the shape of hemispheres, domes, pyramids or simply had one or more flat sides depicting a design.   The early stamp seals were relatively simple with few designs.  After around 5000 BC, figurative designs started to appear on the seals, most of which consisted of animals and hunting scenes. 

By 3200 BC, seals were made in cylinder form that permitted the seal to be rolled over wet clay to produce a continuous image or frieze. 

The primary use of seals was to designate ownership. They were impressed on the clay that sealed storage jars and on lumps of clay wrapped around ropes securing bales of goods.  When the clay hardened, the impression became a permanent record, a sign of ownership.  The shape and size of cylinder seals, the type of material used, and the designs carved into the surface varied according to period and area.  As of this date, cylinders seals made from hard stones ( often black or dark green) have been found, but also of lapis lazuli, chalcedony, agate, jasper, marble, carnelian and crystal.

Cylinder seals are the only object from the ancient Near East surviving in quantity over the entire period.  Therefore, for the history of art, they are unique.  In addition, some carry inscriptions naming the ancient owners, or giving other valuable information, which is also unique since captions on objects are extremely rare in this area and period. Since cylinder seals are small and mostly made of stone, many have survived intact, while other objects such as large sculpture in the round and large stone reliefs have rarely survived intact, if at all.  Victorious armies often destroyed them of set plan, or plunderers and vandals as well as the elements took a toll of them over the centuries.  Thus, a major collection of cylinder seals has an importance well beyond the size and bulk of the objects. 

Cylinder seals are somewhat a kin to Chinese scrolls in that they need to be “unraveled”, or “rolled out”.  Because they cannot be seen completely without turning them, they are sort of early animations. Some have one continuous scene, others are “compartmentalized”, and some have inscriptions.  Many of the earliest ones have simple geometric patterns, and there are many traditional scenes involving nobility, Gods, hunters, and beasts.  Most are meant to be scrolled horizontally.

There are small seals and large seals, some lean and some fat.  In many instances, the incised images are very hard to discern directly from the seal, often because of the stone’s particular coloration, and most seals that are auctioned nowadays come with a gray clay tablet on which the seal’s impression has been made, which makes it easier to visualize.  Remarkably, the three-dimensionality of the carving is usually quite pronounced and the collectors prize the quality of the images. 

At Sadigh Gallery, we have a collection of ancient stamp and cylinder seals from ancient Syria, Assyria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Persia,  and Sumer.   The prices range according to the quality of the images as well as the materials used.  We have variety of seals that are made with steatite (more common), and some of the more variable ones made with semi-precious stones such as agate.   If you are looking for specific types of seals, please consult Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art, Inc. and we will be happy to assist you! 

You can also visit our website www.sadighgallery.com

Sadigh Gallery’s Sumerian Seal Collection:

http://www.sadighgallery.com/search.asp?keyword=seals&sortby=0&catid=34

Sadigh Gallery’s  Mesopotamian Seal Collection:

http://www.sadighgallery.com/search.asp?keyword=seals&sortby=0&catid=26

Sadigh Gallery’s Babylonian Seal Collection:

http://www.sadighgallery.com/search.asp?keyword=seals&sortby=0&catid=11

Sadigh Gallery’s  Assyrian Seal Collection:

http://www.sadighgallery.com/search.asp?keyword=seals&sortby=0&catid=10

Sadigh Gallery’s Syrian Seal Collection:

http://www.sadighgallery.com/search.asp?keyword=seals&sortby=0&catid=35

Sadigh Gallery’s Persian Seal Collection:

http://www.sadighgallery.com/search.asp?keyword=seals&sortby=0&catid=28

Luristan Became a Center of Skilled Metalworkers

Luristan bronzes have been prized for their unique designs and fine craftsmanship since antiquity.  Geographically, Luristan is the central province in Iran’s western frontier, the area where production of richly decorated bronzes flourished from about 1200 to 800 B.C. 

The formidable terrain of the region, sweeping plains, and high valleys intersected by the Zagros Mountains, encouraged the development of small, separated communities in ancient times.  The economy of these communities was dependent upon horse breeding, some agriculture, and control of the north-south trade routes. By about 2500 B.C. these tribes lived in semi-permanent settlements, which became the early bronze working centers.  

The Luristan smiths became masters of casting by the ‘cireperdue’ or ‘lost wax’ method.  This technique required the modeling of an object in wax, often over a clay core for stability, and then coating the wax with clay.  The subsequent firing of the piece hardened the clay, and melted the wax which ran out through prepared vents.  The resulting mold was then filled with molten metal and left to cool.  When the mold was broken away, the bronze piece was smoothes and finished as necessary.  The versatility of this method encouraged innovative design, and allowed for the production of a variety of bronze tools, implements, decorations and figures.  

The tribes of western Persian were outstanding horsemen and warriors, and decorative horse bits, harness fittings, and rein rings were among their most interesting equipment. 

Ingenious zoomorphic shapes appear on much of the Luristan bronze work. Fantastic animals with elongated bodies form handles and spouts of a variety of vessels.  The same animal forms appear as cult symbols on ceremonial pins and finials.  The “Master of Animals” design, often used on pins and finials is one of the most popular but baffling motifs.  A humanoid figure is flanked by a pair of mythical and rearing beasts, which in some instances he appears to be subduing.  The human figure has been equated with Gilgamesh and with the Mesopotamian “heroes”.  The origin of the whole motif is, however, maybe archaic, and evolved from an early stage in the religion.  

The primary function of any metal industry in antiquity was the production of weapons and tools.   This, too, was an area in which the Luristan smiths excelled.  Their mastery of weapons included a wide variety of swords, daggers and spear points, as well as arrowheads, mace heads, and ax heads.  

Bronze blades were relatively soft and required frequent re-sharpening, thus the whetstone became an important piece of equipment.  

The first bronze blades were cast with a short tang, which was riveted to a simple wooden handle.  Very fine dagger blades were occasionally fitted with a separately cast bronze of copper hilt, that was then riveted to the tang.  Some of these blades have been found with cuneiform inscriptions from the Royal Houses of Babylon and Elam. 

Even after the blade and hilt were cast as one piece (about 1200 B.C.) this style was copied and the rivets were cast as a design motif.  Eventually, blades were cast with a flanged hilt.  This allowed for a decorative inlay in the handle of bone, ivory or wood.  

The Luristan bronze industry died out after 800 B.C. when the tribal aristocracy lost its power to the invading Medes, and the smiths lost their wealthy patrons. 

Many fine examples of Luristan bronze work are available to collectors from Sadigh Gallery,  from miniature ceremonial animals to horse gear and swords and daggers.   Visit our Luristan collection page at: http://www.sadighgallery.com/luristan.html

Egyptian Palette

The Palette term used to refer to two distinct artifacts: cosmetic and scribal pallets.

Cosmetic/ceremonial palettes, usually of siltstone (greywacke), have been found in the form of grave goods in cemeteries as early as the Baldarian period (c. 5500 – 4000 BC).  They were used to grind pigments such as malachite or galena, from which eye-paint was made.  The early examples were simply rectangular in shape, but by the Naqada I period (c. 4000 – 3500 BC), they were generally carved into more elaborate geometric forms including a rhomboid which resembles the symbol of the later fertility god Minor, the schematic silhouettes or animals such as hippopotami and turtles (sometimes with inlaid eyes).

By this time, cosmetic palettes had almost certainly acquired ritualistic or magical connotations.  In the Naqada II period (c. 3500 – 3100 BC) the preferred shape tended to be the forms of fish or birds, rather than animals, and many were shield-shaped, with two birds’ heads at the top. 

By the terminal Predynastic period, the range of shapes of the smaller cosmetic palettes had become considerably reduced, but simultaneously a new and more elaborate ceremonial form began to be produced.  These palettes (usual oval or shield-shaped) were employed as votive items in temples rather than as grave goods, and a large number were found in the form of a cache in the Early Dynastic temple at Hierakonpolis.  They were carved with reliefs depicting the ideology and rituals of the emerging elite, and the quintessential surviving example is the “Narmer Palette”. 

The “Narmer Palette” was found in the so-called “main deposit” at Kom el-Ahmar, i.e. Hierakonpolis.  This is perhaps the most intensely studied of all Egyptian artifacts and the most well known.  This triangular piece of black basalt depicts a king whose name is given as Nar-Mer in the hieroglyphs. On the obverse he is shown wearing the white crown of the south and holding a mace about to crush the head of a northern foe, and on the reverse, the same figure is shown wearing the red crown of the north while a bull (a symbol of the pharaoh's power) rages below him, smashing the walls of a city and trampling yet another foe.  At first, it was taken for a plate commemorating a specific historical event, such as the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, or a military victory over some foreign people.  However,  later  research drift towards it being either a wholly symbolic event aimed at manifesting the King's power, or summarize the year in which it was made and presented to the temple.

 

Scribal palettes generally consisted of long rectangular pieces of wood or stone (averaging 30 cm long and 60 cm wide), each with a shallow central groove or slot to hold the reed bushes or pens and one or two circular depressions at one end, to hold cakes of pigment.  The hieroglyph used as the determinative for the words “scribe” and “writing” consisted of a set of scribes’ equipment, including a shorter version of the palette.

Egyptian Predynastic Pottery

Beginning just before the Predynastic period, Egyptian culture was already beginning to resemble greatly the Pharaonic ages that would soon come after, and rapidly at that.  In a transition period of a thousand years (about which little is still known), nearly all the archetypal characteristics appeared, and beginning in 5500 BC we find evidence of organized, permanent settlements focused around agriculture. Hunting was no longer a major support for existence now that the Egyptian diet was made up of domesticated cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, as well as cereal grains such as wheat and barley.  Artifacts of stone were supplemented by those of metal, and the crafts of basketry, pottery, weaving, and the tanning of animal hides became part of the daily life. The transition from primitive nomadic tribes to traditional civilization was nearly complete. 

The Chalcolithic period, also called the "Primitive" Predynastic, marks the beginning of the true Predynastic cultures both in the north and in the south. The southern cultures, particularly that of the Badarian, were almost completely agrarian (farmers), but their northern counterparts, such as the Faiyum who were oasis dwellers, still relied on hunting and fishing for the majority of their diet. Predictably, the various craftworks developed along further lines at a rapid pace. Stone working, particularly that involved in the making of blades and points reached a level almost that of the Old Kingdom industries that would follow. Furniture too, was a major object of creation; again, many artifacts already resembling what would come. Objects began to be made not only with a function, but also with an aesthetic value. Pottery was painted and decorated, particularly the blacktopped clay pots and vases that this era is noted for; bone and ivory combs, figurines, and tableware, are found in great numbers, as is jewelry of all types and materials.

It would seem that while the rest of the world at large was still in the darkness of primitivism, the Predynastic Egyptians were already creating a world of beauty. 

Somewhere around 4500 BC is the start of the "Old" Predynastic, also known as the Amratian period, or simply as Naqada I, as most of the sites from this period date to around the same time as the occupation of the Naqada site. The change that is easiest to see in this period is in the pottery. Whereas before ceramics were decorated with simple bands of paint, these have clever geometric designs inspired by the world around the artist, as well as pictures of animals, either painted on or carved into the surface of the vessel.  Shapes too, became more varied, for both practical reasons depending on what the vessel was used for, and aesthetic reasons. Decorative clay objects were also popular, particularly the "dancer" figurines, small painted figures of women with upraised arms. Yet perhaps the most important detail of all about this period is the development of true architecture. Like most of Egyptian culture, we have gleaned much of our knowledge from what the deceased were buried with, and in this case, we have several clay models of houses discovered in the graves that resemble the rectangular clay brick homes of the Old Kingdom. This shows that the idea of individual dwellings, towns, and "urban planning" started around 4500 BC!

History of Ancient Mesopotamia

The word “Mesopotamia” is in origin a Greek name (mesos ‘middle’ and potamos ‘river’, so ‘land between the rivers’). The name is used for the area watered by the Euphrates and Tigris and its tributaries, roughly comprising modern Irak and part of Syria. South of modern Baghdad, the alluvial plains of the rivers were called the land of Sumer and Akkad in the third millennium. Sumer is the most southern part, while the land of Akkad is the area around modern Baghdad, where the Euphrates and Tigris are close to each other. In the second millennium, both regions together are called Babylonia, a mostly flat country. The territory in the north is called Assyria, with the city Assur as center. It borders to the mountains.

Two cultural groups form the principle elements in the population of Mesopotamia before the beginning of history and in the millennium thereafter (the 3rd millennium BCE). These are the Sumerians and the Akkadians. They lived peacefully together and created in mutual fertilization, by symbiosis and osmosis, the conditions for a common high civilization. Mesopotamian sources in all periods seem to be free of strong racial ideologies or ethnic stereotypes. Enemies, both groups and individuals, may be cursed and reviled heavily, but this applies more strongly to the ruler of a nearby city than to one of a remote territory. 

(Semi-) nomads in the Near East. Even at the time that a large part of the population in Mesopotamia had a sedentary (non-migratory) life in settlements; large groups of people (nomads) at the same time are migrating. Nomads roam from place to place in search for pasture and moving with the season. Semi-nomads graze their small livestock near the fields of the settlements, often trading for goods obtained elsewhere and having all kinds of other interactions. This characteristic is still present in the Near East today. Nomads leave little archeological trace and are illiterate, so not much is known about them by direct means. However, some description does appear in written form: recorded by the Sumerians and later by the Akkadians. Some of the (semi-)nomads, either as individuals or as groups, mix with the sedentary population or become sedentary themselves. In times of political or economical crisis, they may do so by force, but they adapt quickly to the current civilization and even to the dominant language. Their increased influence on the society is manifested by a change in type of personal names. Sometimes the names are the only remains of their original language. In their new positions, they often stimulate further cultural development. 

Akkadians, speaking a Semitic language, may have been present in Mesopotamia since the time the Sumerians arrived, or they may have diffused into the region later. Their culture intermingled and they must have been living peacefully together. On Sumerian clay tablets dated around 2900-2800 BCE found in Fara, Semitic (Akkadian) names are attested for the first time. It concerns the names of kings in the city Kish. Kish is in the north of Babylonia where according to the Sumerian King Lists `kingship descended again from heaven' after the great Flood. The proper names often contain animal names like zuqiqïpum `scorpion' and kalbum `dog'. Kings with Semitic names are the first postdiluvial kings to rule Kish. They started the first historical period called the Early Dynastic Period.

A few centuries later the first Akkadian king Sargon of Akkad ruled over an empire that included a large part of Mesopotamia. Apparently, Semitic speaking people have lived for centuries amidst the Sumerians and gradually became an integral part of the Sumerian culture. We do not hear much about them in the first part of the third millennium, because the (scholarly) language used in writing is Sumerian.

Mesopotamia has no natural boundaries and is difficult to defend. The influence of neighboring countries is large. Throughout the history of Mesopotamia trade contacts, slow diffusion of foreign tribes and military confrontations have been of great influence. 

In the west: city of Ebla, the discovery in the third millennium city Ebla took Assyriology by surprise. The extent of the Sumerian culture in the third millennium was not known, but not expected to go so far west. Ebla is situated at Tell Mardikh 65 km south of Aleppo in Syria and appeared to be an urban culture in the middle of the 3rd millennium in the far west of Mesopotamia. The site shows impressive archeological remains (royal palace) and has a rich archive of cuneiform tablets, which attests a new (western) Semitic language (called Eblaite) different from and even slightly older than Old Akkadian.