Divine World Glyptics
Az i.e. I. évezredi pecséthengerek korpusza
MTA–ELTE Lendület
Újasszír és Újbabiloni Pecséthengerek és Istenvilág Kutatócsoport
| Object no. | S05252 |
| Description of the seal image | The scene is framed by line borders at the top and bottom. A bearded hero grasps the ear of a rampant bull with one hand and holds a sickle sword (scimitar) in the other while stepping on the hind leg of the animal. He wears a headband and a long, broad-belted, tiered and fringed open robe over a short tunic. His garment is decorated with a net or crosshatch pattern. The other hero or human-headed apkallu (genius) carrying a small mouflon and a drooping branch of pomegranates. He wears a headband and a long, tiered and fringed open robe over a short tunic. The figures are separated by vertically-set cuneiform inscriptions framed by line borders. |
| Figures, motifs/symbols |
- borderlines (2): line borders at the top and bottom - bull: rampant, head turned backwards - hero 1: bearded, wearing a headband and a long, broad-belted, tiered and fringed open robe over a short tunic decorated with a net or crosshatch pattern, holding a sickle sword (scimitar) - hero 2: genius (human-headed apkallu), wearing a headband and a long, tiered and fringed open robe over a short tunic, carrying a small mouflon and a drooping branch of pomegranates - inscription: two lines, cuneiform, vertically-set, framed by line borders - mouflon: small |
| Subcategory | cylinder seal |
| Collection | Bibliothèque nationale de France / BnF |
| Museum number | Seyrig.1980.292.55 |
| Condition, shape | chipped upper and lower edges; large chips partly distort the figures |
| Culture | Assyro-Babylonian |
| Provenance |
Donated to the Département des Monnaies, médailles et antiques in 1980 by the widow of Henri Arnold Seyrig (1895–1973), who purchased the object from Basile Khoury in Antioch. As for the alleged provenance of the object, Seyrig noted the following: “ce cylindre aurait été trouvé à la bouche de l’Oronte, près de Souédié”. |
| First occurence | 1986 |
| Dimensions (mm): height, diameter | 37.2, 16.9 mm, weight: 20 g |
| Material and features | N/A |
| Style | modelled |
| Scene | contest |
| Writing system, language | cuneiform: Akkadian |
| Transliteration |
1. ša2 mŠU-su–dPA 2. IR3 UTU–a-me-lu |
| Translation |
1. Property of Qāssu-Nabû, 2. servant of Šamaš-amēlu. |
| Bibliography |
Niederreiter – Lőrincz 2025, 80–89 no. 14. Niederreiter Z. – Lőrincz H.: Catalogue of Cylinder Seals in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France: Middle Assyrian and First-Millennium-BCE Seals Added to the Collection from 1909 Onward. (Antiqua et Orientalia 12 – Assyriologia 15) Budapest, 2025. |
| 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 GE based on the relevant publication provided, then the data was checked by MNy, the present object descriptions done by HL, and the transliteration and translation of the seal legend done by ZN; object data and description were finalized by ZN (03 March 2026). GE – Gábor Erdős, HL – Huba Lőrincz, ZN – Zoltán Niederreiter, MNy – Mónika Nyitrai |