between 2900 B.C. and 2400 B.C.
black serpentine ;
Morgan Seal 1096
Description
1 cylinder seal : black serpentine ; 22 x 11 mm
Provenance
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes
"The garment of the worshiper appears to have girdle tassels hanging down at the sides and between his legs, a feature that relates this seal to two cylinders found in a deposit in the necropolis of Minat al Baida, adjacent to Ras Shamra (Syria, vol. xii [1931], pl. iii1, middle and bottom seals). Furthermore, the treatment of the design, covering the seal with a close pattern ofthin lines, corresponds with the execution of these cylinders. This might indicate that 1096 should be classified as Syrian and dated in the time of the Minat al Baida cylinders, that is, in the thirteenth century B.C."--Porada, CANES, p. 155
Summary
Worshiper holding up four dead birds(?) strung on rope(?) -- Column of six globes -- Small figure touched by deity who is seated on throne that has back ending in bird's head -- Above arm of deity, indeterminate design -- Winged sun disk in sky -- Several globes scattered in field -- Terminal: plant.
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