between 2700 B.C. and 2500 B.C.
onyx marble ;
Morgan Seal 61
Description
1 cylinder seal : onyx marble ; 37 x 24 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
Upper edge of cylinder chipped.
"Equally distinctive of this age is the two-pointed headdress seen in 60 and 61 and rendered on a larger scale in an alabaster plaque from Fara... In 61 the composite monster with two-pointed headdress is comparable to the composite figures in the contest friezes of the Second Early Dynastic period, as found in 59. Though the meaning of this monster, as well as that of the rest of the scene, is enigmatic, the arrangement of the figures and their strange actions suggest that the scene may be connected with some mythological concept." Porada, CANES, p. 10-11
"Equally distinctive of this age is the two-pointed headdress seen in 60 and 61 and rendered on a larger scale in an alabaster plaque from Fara... In 61 the composite monster with two-pointed headdress is comparable to the composite figures in the contest friezes of the Second Early Dynastic period, as found in 59. Though the meaning of this monster, as well as that of the rest of the scene, is enigmatic, the arrangement of the figures and their strange actions suggest that the scene may be connected with some mythological concept." Porada, CANES, p. 10-11
Summary
Lion-armed demon with human torso and legs and two-pointed headdress, vase on his raised leg, dagger against his bent leg -- Before him, two large scorpions; above one, small figure seated on chair; above other, two crossd lions and small scorpion on platform
Catalog link
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department