between 2340 B.C. and 2150 B.C.
black serpentine ;
Morgan Seal 250
Description
1 cylinder seal : black serpentine ; 35 x 21 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"Banquet scenes, which occur so frequently on Early Dynastic seals, are found on only a few Akkad cylinders. In the latter the banqueting figures are occasionally identified as deities by their horned miters (248, 249), whereas in the earlier renderings the character of the figures remains undetermined. Even in 250, in which the figures do not wear horned miters, they are characterized as superior beings by their seats: the female personage sits on a stool fashioned with what appear to be bull's legs, the male personage on a throne shaped like a shrine." Porada, CANES, p. 30
Summary
Female attendant behind seated woman raising cup, male attendant supporting elbow of man seated opposite, likewise raising cup -- Second male attendant at right.
Catalog link
Classification
Place
Southern Mesopotamia.
Department