Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

God with rays tearing branches from tree forming inclosure for seated deity

between 2340 B.C. and 2150 B.C.
green serpentine ;
Morgan Seal 235
Description
1 cylinder seal : green serpentine ; 23 x 13 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"The scene of 235 belongs to a group interpreted by Opitz as illustrating a passage in the Sumerian version of the Gilgamesh epic, namely, the episode in which Gilgamesh complies with the wish of the goddess Inanna by attacking the demons occupying her tree." Porada, CANES, p. 29
Summary
God with rays tearing branches from tree bent to ground and forming inclosure for seated deity -- Worshiper at right.
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department