Dual scene: Contest scene depicting hero grasping human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx) on either side/Ritual scene depicting two mouflons flanking stylised tree while wild goat (ibex) stands on top


Dual scene: Contest scene depicting hero grasping human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx) on either side/Ritual scene depicting two mouflons flanking stylised tree while wild goat (ibex) stands on top
Kategória Cylinder Seals
Description of the seal image The seal image framed by line borders at the top and bottom comprises two scenes. In the contest scene, a bearded hero with six curls grasps a rampant human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx) on either side, each by a foreleg. His head and upper body are depicted in frontal view, and he wears a long, broad-belted, fringed and tasselled, open robe over a short tunic. His robe is decorated with a hexagonal pattern. Above his right arm is a vertically-set, one-line cuneiform inscription. The other scene depicts two mouflons flanking a stylised tree in the middle while a wild goat (ibex) with bunched legs stands on its top. On either side of its head are the Sibitti (Pleiades) and a crescent moon, respectively.
Figures, motifs/symbols - borderlines (2): line borders at the top and bottom
- crescent moon
- hero: bearded, with six curls, upper body and head in frontal view, wearing a long, broad-belted, fringed, open robe decorated with a hexagonal pattern over a short tunic
- human-headed winged lions (shedus, sphinxes) (2): rampant, beardless
- inscription: vertically-set, one line, cuneiform
- mouflons (2): rampant
- Sibitti (Pleiades)
- stylised tree
- wild goat (ibex): with bunched legs
Subcategory cylinder seal
Collection N/A; formerly The Property of T. Ridha Esq.
Condition, shape chipped upper and lower edges
Culture Assyro-Babylonian
Provenance ex-The Property of T. Ridha Esq., surfaced at Sotheby's (London) 09 and 10–12–1993, lot 236
First occurence 1993
Dimensions (mm): height, diameter h: 30, d: no data
Material and features "agate"
Style modelled
Scene animal, contest, dual, ritual
Writing system, language cuneiform: Akkadian
Transliteration

1. dPA–DINGIR(?)
Translation 1. Nabû-ilu.
Bibliography

Sotheby's (London) 09 and 10–12–1993, 66–67 lot 236.



Sotheby's (London) 09 and 10–12–1993: Antiquities.