Stamp-cylinder seal: Animal scene: Three hybrid creatures walking towards fish (cylinder image) – Bird of prey with the tail of a fish or a scorpion (stamp image)

Műveletek

Object no.	S00082
Description of the seal image	The cylinder image is framed by line borders at the top and bottom. Three hybrid creatures walk towards a vertically-set fish. One of them is a lion-headed, scorpion-tailed bird. Behind it walks a deer-headed (or gazelle-headed), scorpion-tailed bird with an undetermined symbol above its tail, while on the other side of the fish is a mouflon-headed bird with the head of a deer (or gazelle [antelope]) in place of a tail. Two rosettes and a crescent moon appear above the hybrid creature, and there are four small stars around the fish. The stamp image shows a bird of prey with the tail of a fish or a scorpion. In front of it is a human head with a round cap. A rosette and a crescent moon appear in the upper image field, while below is a small star.
Figures, motifs/symbols	- borderlines (2): line borders at the top and bottom - crescent moons (2) - fish: vertically-set - human head: with a round cap - hybrid creature 1: lion's head, winged, bird's legs, scorpion tail - hybrid creature 2: deer's or gazelle's (antelope's) head, winged, bird's legs, scorpion tail - hybrid creature 3: mouflon's head, winged, bird's legs, head of a deer or gazelle (antelope) instead of a tail - hybrid creature 4: bird's head, bird's legs, fish or scorpion tail - rosettes (3) - stars (5) - undetermined motif: above the tail of the deer-hybrid
Subcategory	cylinder seal stamp cylinder
Collection	The British Museum
Museum number	BM WA 130670 – 1947-10-18, 2
Condition, shape	slightly damaged upper and lower edges; worn
Culture	Urartian
Provenance	N/A
First occurence	1947; Barnett 1948, 10 no. 56 and 13 fig. 10
Archaeological context	N/A
Registration number	N/A
Dimensions (mm): height, diameter	h: 21 (with loop: 29.5); d: 14 (top) – 16 (bottom) (flares out towards the carved base, grooved loop set on a raised disc)
Material and features	"serpentinite: black"
Style	linear
Scene	animal
Transliteration	N/A
Translation	N/A
Bibliography	Collon 2001, 55 no. 82 and pls. XXXV and XLIII. Collon, D.: Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum. Cylinder Seals V: Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods. (Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum. Cylinder Seals 5) London, 2001.

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 preliminary description of the object done by ER based on the relevant publication provided, then the data was checked by MNy and the present object descriptions done by HL; object data and description were finalized by ZN (2 September 2026). HL – Huba Lőrincz, ZN – Zoltán Niederreiter, MNy – Mónika Nyitrai, ER – Erika Roboz

Divine World Glyptics

Az i.e. I. évezredi pecséthengerek korpusza

Stamp-cylinder seal: Animal scene: Three hybrid creatures walking towards fish (cylinder image) – Bird of prey with the tail of a fish or a scorpion (stamp image)

Műveletek