In the surface of the white-banded agate cylinder at left, scarcely an inch high, is an incised image that becomes legible only when rolled out into clay. The scene, revealed at right, depicts a lion attacking a mouflon, a wild horned sheep. The lion’s ferocity, expressed through a series of arcs and curves, culminates in the curve of the head in profile, its mouth open to expose sharp teeth. The mouflon’s fear is apparent in the face it turns towards its attacker as it raises a foreleg in a vain effort to escape.
Lion Attacking Mouflon; Tree and Star. Mesopotamia, Middle Assyrian period (ca. thirteenth century B.C.). Banded agate, 1 1/8 × 1/2 inches (2.8 × 1.2 cm). Morgan Seal 602. Acquired by Pierpont Morgan between 1885 and 1908.