Stamp-cylinder seal: Royal hero grasping human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx) on either side (cylinder image) – horned animal below a crescent moon (stamp image) – eight-rayed star (stamp image on the handle)

Kategória	Cylinder Seals
Description of the seal image	The cylinder image is framed by a double-line border at the top. Above the lines are perforation holes and diagonal notches, the impressions of which imitate the appearance of the winged sun-disc. The royal hero grasps a rampant human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx) on either side, each by a foreleg. He wears a dentate crown (cidaris) and Persian clothing (court robe). Behind the rampant beasts is a crescent moon above a tall tree, possibly coniferous tree. The seal image depicts a horned animal below a crescent moon, while the seal image on the handle depicts an eight-rayed star.
Figures, motifs/symbols	- animal: horned, wild goat (ibex) or gazelle (antelope), on the lower stamp image - borderline: double-line border at the top - crescent moons (2): one on the lower stamp image - human-headed winged lions (shedus, sphinxes) (2): rampant, heads turned backwards - plant: tall tree, possibly coniferous tree - royal hero: bearded, wearing a dentate crown (cidaris) and Persian clothing (court robe) - star: eight-rayed, on the upper stamp image - winged sun-disc: created by the impression of drillings and diagonal notches
Subcategory	stamp cylinder
Collection	Universalmuseum Joanneum, formerly kept in Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum
Museum number	N/A
Condition, shape	slightly worn
Culture	Achaemenid
Provenance	gift of James Claudius Rich to Archduke Johann; found in Babylon(?)
First occurence	1814
Dimensions (mm): height, diameter	h: 37.5, d: 22.2
Material and features	"feinkörniges Gestein ... 5 F 3 graubraun"
Style	linear
Scene	contest
Bibliography	Bleibtreu 1981, 93-94 no. 115. Bleibtreu, E.: Rollsiegel aus dem Vorderen Orient. Zur Steinschneidekunst zwischen etwa 3200 und 400 vor Christus nach Beständen in Wien und Graz. Wien, 1981.