Hero grasping fish-man (kulullu) and goat-fish (suhurmashu)

Object no. S04416
Description of the seal image A bearded hero grasps a fish-man (kulullu) with one hand and a goat-fish (suhurmashu) with the other. He wears a horned tiara and a broad-belted, fringed kilt. The fish-man holds an aryballos. Behind the two hybrid creatures is a vertically-set, three-line cuneiform inscription framed and separated by rulings.
Figures, motifs/symbols - fish-man (kulullu): bearded, holding an aryballos
- goat-fish (suhurmashu)
- inscription: cuneiform, three lines, vertically-set, framed and separated by rulings
- winged hero: likely Marduk, bearded, wearing a horned tiara and a broad-belted, fringed kilt
Subcategory cylinder seal
Collection Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
Museum number KHM AS X 148 (AE_SEM_1249)
Condition, shape chipped upper and lower edges
Culture Neo-Babylonian
Provenance kept in the Antikensammlung until 1982
First occurence 1600's.
Dimensions (mm): height, diameter h: 35, d: 17
Material and features "Chalzedon ... 20 C 4 graublau, durchscheinend"
Style modelled
Scene contest
Writing system, language cuneiform: Akkadian
Transliteration

1. ša dAMAR.UTU



2. ša la le-ʾ-i



3. šu-te-šur-šu

Translation 1. The one Marduk
2–3. who provides justice for the powerless.
Bibliography

Bleibtreu 1981, 84–85 no. 103.



Bleibtreu, E.: Rollsiegel aus dem Vorderen Orient. Zur Steinschneidekunst zwischen etwa 3200 und 400 vor Christus nach Beständen in Wien und Graz. Wien, 1981.



For the seal legend, see Niederreiter 2024, 152 cat. no. 31.



Niederreiter Z. 2024: Appendix 4.3.1. The Meeting of Sweet and Salt Water, Where It All

Began: The Dwelling Place of the God Ea and His Entourage of Aquatic Creatures". In: Niederreiter Z. et al. (eds.) Mesopotamia: Kingdom of Gods and Demons. Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 150–153.

Object history The publications mentioning the objects in this database were collected and the objects classified by ZN; data for the present object was input and description of the object done by HL based on the relevant publication provided, the transliteration and translation of the seal legend done by ZN; then object data and description were finalized by ZN (20 March 2026). HL – Huba Lőrincz, ZN – Zoltán Niederreiter
© Lendület kutatócsoport - MTA ELTE Budapest
© developed by Agost Kilian | vvortex.hu