Hero fighting human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx)
| Kategória | Cylinder Seals |
| Description of the seal image | The scene is framed by line borders at the top and bottom. A half-kneeling, bearded hero grasps the foreleg of a rampant human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx) with one hand and holds a sickle sword (scimitar) in the other. He wears a round headdress and a double-belted, fringed tunic and has a sword at his waist. Between the legs of the beast are a rhomb and a fish, while above its forelegs are the Sibitti (Pleiades). Behind the two figures is a crescent moon and an eight-rayed star in the sky above the tasselled spade of Marduk (marru). |
| Figures, motifs/symbols |
- borderlines (2): line borders at the top and bottom - crescent moon - fish - hero: bearded, half-kneeling, wearing a double-belted, fringed tunic, has a sword at his waist, holding a sickle sword (scimitar) - human-headed winged lion (shedu, sphinx): rampant, beardless - rhomb - Sibitti (Pleiades) - spade of Marduk (marru): tasselled - star: eight-rayed |
| Subcategory | cylinder seal |
| Collection | N/A |
| Condition, shape | slightly damaged upper and lower edges, slightly worn |
| Culture | Neo-Assyrian |
| Provenance | surfaced at Drouot (Paris) 25 and 26–06–1962, lot. 167 |
| First occurence | 1962 |
| Dimensions (mm): height, diameter | h: 21, d: 11 |
| Material and features | "serpentine" |
| Style | linear |
| Scene | contest |
| Bibliography |
Drouot (Paris) 25 and 26–06–1962, lot. 167. Drouot (Paris) 25 and 26–06–1962: Importante collection de cylindres et cachets Mesopotamie et proche-Orient statuettes archaïques, bijoux en or. |