Divine World Glyptics
Az i.e. I. évezredi pecséthengerek korpusza
MTA–ELTE Lendület
Újasszír és Újbabiloni Pecséthengerek és Istenvilág Kutatócsoport
| Object no. | S04481 |
| Description of the seal image | A half-kneeling, bearded hero (archer), wearing Persian clothing (court robe), aims his bow at a rampant human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx), seemingly throwing a spear at him. The archer has a tasselled quiver on his back. Between the two figures is an inverted wild goat (ibex), while behind them is a crescent moon in the sky. It is possible that the spear actually represents an arrow that pierces through the hybrid creature's raised forepaw. |
| Figures, motifs/symbols |
- crescent moon - hero: archer, hunter, half-kneeling, bearded, wearing Persian clothing (court robe), has a tasselled quiver on his back - human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx): beardless, rampant, seemingly throwing a spear but more likely pierced by an arrow - wild goat (ibex): inverted, fallen |
| Subcategory | cylinder seal |
| Collection | Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury; Discover Bucks Museum; formerly kept in the collection of Dr John Lee (1783–1866) |
| Museum number | AYBCM 2003.91.112 |
| Condition, shape | slightly damaged upper and lower edges |
| Culture | Achaemenid |
| Provenance | ex-collection of Dr John Lee (1783–1866) then loaned (and later donated) to Buckinghamshire County Museum along with 19 other Mesopotamian seals in 1918 |
| First occurence | 19th century |
| Dimensions (mm): height, diameter | h: 31.6, d: 14.4 |
| Material and features | "greyish-brown to black limestone ?" |
| Style | linear |
| Scene | hunting |
| Bibliography |
Brett – Collon 2013, 134–135 no. 112. Brett, Th. – Collon, D.: "Dr Lee’s Collection of Cylinder Seals", Iraq 75 (2013) 119–142. |
| 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 ZN and the present object descriptions done by HL; object data and description were finalized by ZN (20 March 2026). GE – Gábor Erdős, HL – Huba Lőrincz, ZN – Zoltán Niederreiter |