Enkidu and Gilgamesh fighting the Bull of Heaven
| Kategória | Cylinder Seals |
| Description of the seal image | Enkidu and Gilgamesh kill the stumbling Bull of Heaven. Enkidu grasps the tail of the beast with one hand and brandishes an axe with the other while stepping onto the creature's hind leg. He wears a double-belted, fringed and tasselled kilt and has a sword at his waist. Gilgamesh grasps the horn of the hybrid creature with one hand and stabs it in the head with a dagger. He wears a feather-topped, horned headdress and a long, fringed, open robe over a short tunic. He has two bows in tasselled bow cases on his back. Their robes are decorated with a rosette-in-square pattern and Gilgamesh's robe is decorated with a hexagonal pattern with dots inside between his legs. |
| Figures, motifs/symbols |
- hero 1: likely Enkidu, bearded, wearing a double-belted, fringed and tasselled kilt decorated with a rosette-in-square pattern and has a sword at his waist, brandishing an axe - hero 2: likely Gilgamesh, bearded, wearing a feather-topped, horned headdress and a long, fringed, open robe over a short tunic decorated with a rosette-in-square pattern; the inner part of the robe between the legs is decorated with a hexagonal pattern; he has two bows in tasselled bow cases on his back - human-headed winged bull (aladlammu): probably the Bull of Heaven, stumbling |
| Subcategory | cylinder seal |
| Collection | Schøyen Collection; formerly the property of a Lady |
| Museum number | MS 1989 |
| Condition, shape | chipped upper and lower edges |
| Culture | Assyro-Babylonian |
| Provenance | Ex-Property of a Lady, then surfaced at Christie's (London) 07–12–1994, lot 222. |
| First occurence | 1994 |
| Dimensions (mm): height, diameter | h: 39, d: 16 |
| Material and features | "brown agate" |
| Style | modelled |
| Scene | contest |
| Bibliography |
Christie's (London) 07–12–1994, 106 lot 222. Christie's (London) 07–12–1994: Fine Antiquities. Cover illustration of both volumes of A.R. George: The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic. Oxford, 2003. https://www.schoyencollection.com/literature-collection/assyrian-literature-collection/gilgamesh-cylinder-seal-ms-1989 [accessed: 17-03-2026].
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