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Ancient Seals of the Near East

BY

RICHARD A. MARTINCurator of Near Eastern Archaeology

THE LIBRARY OF THE

AUG 6 1940

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

UmiIxiuujiumi'

FOUNDED BY MATISHACL FIELD ^

Anthropology

Leaflet 34

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCHICAGO

1940

The Anthropological Leaflets of Field Museum are designed to

give brief, non-technical accounts of some of the more interesting

beliefs, habits and customs of the races whose life is illustrated

in the Museum's exhibits.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL LEAFLETS ISSUED TO DATE

1. The Chinese Gateway (supply exhausted) ... $ —2. Philippine Forge Group 10

3. Japanese Collections 20

4. New Guinea Masks 15

5. The Thunder Ceremony of the Pawnee 20

6. The Sacrifice to the Morning Star by the SkidiPawnee 10

7. Purification of the Sacred Bundles, a Ceremony ofthe Pawnee 10

8. Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men . .10

9. The Use of Sago in New Guinea 10

10. Use of Human Skulls and Bones in Tibet ... .10

11. The Japanese New Year's Festival, Games andPastimes 15

12. Japanese Costume 20

13. Gods and Heroes of Japan .15

14. Japanese Temples and Houses 15

15. Use of Tobacco among North American Indians . .20

16. Use of Tobacco in Mexico and South America . . .15

17. Use of Tobacco in New Guinea and NeighboringRegions 10

18. Tobacco and Its Use in Asia 25

19. Introduction of Tobacco into Europe 25

20. The Japanese Sword and Its Decoration 15

21. Ivory in China 60

22. Insect-Musicians and Cricket Champions of China . .40

23. Ostrich Egg-shell Cups of Mesopotamia and theOstrich in Ancient and Modern Times ... .30

24. The Indian Tribes of the Chicago Region with

Special Reference to the Illinois and thePotawatomi 25

25. The Civilization of the Mayas 60

26. The Early History of Man {supply exhausted) . ,—

27. The Giraffe in History and Art 60

28. The Field Museum -Oxford University Expeditionto Kish, Mesopotamia, 1923-1929 50

29. Tobacco and Its Use in Africa 25

30. The Races of Mankind 25

31. Prehistoric Man 25

32. Primitive Hunters of Australia 30

33. Archaeology of South America 75

34. Ancient Seals of the Near East 25

CLIFFORD C. GREGG. Direotob

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

CHICAGO, U.S.A.

THE LIBRARY OF THE

AUG 6 1940

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

/!

ACYLINDER AND STAMP SEALS

Cylinder seals: No. 1. Early Dynastic; basalt. No. 2. Jemdet Naar; marble. No. 3.

Early Dynastic; shell. No. 4. Agade; basalt. No. 5. Babylonian; hematite. No. 6.

Neo-Babylonian (modern impression); carnelian. Stamp seals: No. 7. Neo- Babylonian;quartz. No. 8. Sasanid; chalcedony. No. 9. Sasanid; carnelian.

Actual size

!;

Field Museum of Natural HistoryDEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Chicago, 1940

Leaflet Number 34

Copyright 1940 by Field Museum op Natural History

Ancient Seals of the Near East

The cylinder seal is the major contribution of Mesopo-tamia to glyptic art. Cylinders originated during the

Uruk period in the fourth millennium B.C., and were used

for more than three thousand years by the peoples of the

Near East.

Cylinder seals are engraved in intaglio on the curved

surface. Both before and after the invention of writing,

they were utilized for many types of sealing purposes.

The shapes of the cylinders, varying slightly during dif-

ferent periods, were well adapted for making impressions

on all sorts of irregular clay surfaces. Moist clay plastered

about the cover of a jar and rolled over by a seal would

prevent any tampering with the contents of the jar with-

out destruction of the owner's seal impression. An im-

pression on a lump of clay placed over the knot of a cord

would protect merchandise tied in a bundle. A dab of

impressed clay on an object would label its ownership.The earliest written documents bear seal impressions.

Business transactions written on clay tablets were legal-

ized by the seal impressions of witnesses, and state letters

were authenticated by the seals of officials.

Stone of all kinds, usually of the harder varieties, was

the most generally used material for the cylinders, but

during the Early Dynastic period seals were often cut

from the cores of spider shells from the Persian Gulf.

Copper and bronze gravers and the bow-drill were the

tools of the early seal-cutter. Later he added to these

a small revolving disk. The cylinders were usually

4 Field Museum of Natural History

perforated lengthwise so that they could be worn either

attached to a pin or suspended from a cord about the neckor wrist.

The seals depict nearly all phases of the life of the

times, with emphasis on the mythological. Inscriptionsfirst appear on cylinders in the Early Dynastic periodand consist only of the name of the owner. Later the

seals were dedicated by the owner to the king or a god,the inscriptions reaching their greatest length during the

Kassite period with prayers to the gods. The cuneiform

characters were cut in reverse so that they could be read

from the impression.

Although in later Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian times

stamp seals began to replace cylinders, it was not until

after the fall of the Persian Empire in 331 B.C. that the

cylinder seal died out. Stamp seals were engraved only onthe base. They were made of the same materials that wereused for cylinders, and the engraving technique was simi-

lar. The stamp, like the cylinder, could be used on clay,but it was better suited than the cylinder for use on the

newer writing materials that gradually displaced the claytablet. Stamp seals are still in use, but the pictorial seal

of the Near East died out with the Arab conquest in

A.D. 637.

The seal impressions illustrated in the following pagesrepresent some of the finest examples of the major periodsin Near Eastern glyptic art. These photographs are from

reproductions in the frieze of the Babylonian Hall

(Hall K), in which the impressions have been enlarged

approximately twenty-five times.

''-^.

* A

••*** >»<WWF '-

ANCIENT IMPRESSIONS OF SEALS

Nos. 1 and 2. Babylonian; impressions of cylinder seals on clay. No. 3. Neo-Baby-lonian; stamp on asphalt jar-stopper. No. 4. Third Dynasty Ur; clay "receipt" bear-

ing cylinder-seal impression of a man named Gududu. No. 5. Babylonian; showingcylinder-seal impressions of witnesses to a real estate transaction.

Actual size

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HITTITENo. 18 11th Century B.C.

This is a royal, bihngual stamp seal. In the center

stands the king holding his staff of office. About him is

an inscription in Hittite hieroglyphics. On the peripheryof the seal the same inscription is repeated in cuneiform.

Cuneiform:

Hieroglyphic:

INSCRIPTION

"'Tor-qu-u-iim-mesar mCit dl Me-ra+a

Tar^u-thi Me-\-ra-eland king

Tarqutimme the kingof the land Mera

Tarhuthi the kingof the land Mera

NEO-BABYLONIANNo. 19 6th Century B.C.

A bearded priest, conventionalized, wearing a long gar-

ment, stands before an altar on which is the spade symbolof Marduk and the stylus symbol of Nabu.

ACHAEMENIDNo. 20 5th Century B.C.

This seal shows a charging lion above a wild boar.

*^»»

No. 21

PARTHIAN2nd Century B.C.

Portrait of Mithradates I (171-138 B.C.), probablydone by a Greek artist.

No. 22

SASANID

3rd-4th Century a.d.

A long-horned antelope in repose. Above its tail is a six-

pointed star, and before it are three lines indicating gi'ass.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSField Museum gratefully acknowledges the co-opera-

tion of the following institutions and individuals in whose

collections the seals are located :

1. National Museum, Baghdad.2. Oriental Institute, Chicago.3. National Museum, Baghdad.4. National Museum, Baghdad.5. Collection de Clercq, Paris.

6. British Museum, London.7. University of Illinois, Urbana.8. Harvard Semitic Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

9. Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

10. Mr. Edward T. Newell, American Numismatic Society, NewYork.

11. Collection de Clercq, Paris.

12. Mrs. William H. Moore, New York.

13. Mr. Edward T. Newell, American Numismatic Society, NewYork.

14. Musee National du Louvre, Paris.

15. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

16. Mrs. Agnes Brett, New York.

17. Hermitage Museum, Leningrad.18. Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.

19. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.20. Oriental Institute, Chicago.21. Hertzoglichen Museum, Gotha, Germany.22. Oriental Institute, Chicago.

Field Museum is indebted to the following members

of the faculty of the Oriental Institute, University of

Chicago: Professor Albert T. Olmstead, for his manyvaluable suggestions and for the untiring interest and

enthusiasm which he devoted to the project; Dr. Ignace J.

Gelb, for the transliterations and translations of the

cuneiform inscriptions; and Drs. Neilson C. Debevoise

and George G. Cameron, for their generous assistance.

The Federal Arts Project of the Work Projects Admin-

istration prepared the frieze. The beauty and accuracy

of the enlargements are due to the careful supervision

of Mr. Edouard Chassaing, and to the skill of the manysculptors who executed the work.

UKIVEBSITVOf >UJ»0>S

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICABY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS