| CUA Cylinder Seals |
Material, Size, Condition seals perforated longitudinally through the center for suspension |
Design Note |
| 1. | White calcite (marble). 3.0 x 1.0 cm. |
Antelope running to left, long horns covering its back. Field decoration includes linear (vegetation?) motifs and four-rayed stars. |
| 2. | Green enameled stone. 3.9 x 1.4 cm. | Tree flanked by two horned quadrupeds. Behinid them a deer moves to the right. |
| 3. | Brown limestone. 3.9 x 1.3 cm. Very worn. |
Two horned quadrupeds running left, one after the other. Speleers noted that the delicacy of the design may suggest a later Elamite period. |
| 4. |
Lapis lazuli. 3.0 x 1.2 cm. Very worn.
|
Two horizontal registers: 1. Two seated men perhaps drinking through "straws" from a vessel on a table between them. A third man sits behind them. 2. A seated man touches the right hand of another man standing before him. On the right side is a table with a plant or branch. A man stands before it with arms extended. The men have bird-like faces, i.e., a round head with a large eye hole and sharp, pointed nose. Sumerian. |
| 5. | Mixed diorite. 3.6 x 2.4 cm. Worn, but very well-executed. |
Three groups in combat: a hero wearing a kilt and a conical cap wrestles with a bull; a bull-man wrestles with a lion; on the right, a hero in kilt and conical cap wrestles with a bull. |
| 6. | Mixed diorite. 2.4 x 1.6 cm. Worn. |
Description of scene by Casanowicz (1926):Seated deity holding a stalk of wheat. Before deity a man drives a bull with a curved stick. The animal bears grain stalks fastened to poles. Crescent in field. Description of scene by Speleers (1933): Seated deity in a long robe holds a rope or branch before a bull which lies before or supports a "winged gate". A figure standing behind the bull grasps a rope or branch coming from the gate. Crescent in field. A very worn inscription of two lines may indicate the owner's name, "son of god [?]". |
| 7. | Jade. 2.4 x 1.4 cm. Broken. | Part of a stylized palmtree flanked by two animals standing upright on their hindlegs with forelegs on tree's branches: on the left a deer; on the right a lion. A hero subdues the lion. |
| 8. |
Hematite. 1.7 x 0.9 cm. Very worn; broken. |
Deities Martu and Shala. In the field appear a squatting monkey-like figure, a naked man, a couched quadruped, a lion attacking a man, a thunderbolt below a bird. |
| 9. | Hematite. 2.6 x 1.4 cm. Very worn. | Deities Martu and female deity. Part of inscription: ... il... | ...god... || arad (il) Mar-(tu) | servant of (god) Martu || (ù) (il) | and of ... . |
| 10. | Grey stone. 2.9 x 1.5 cm. | Deities Martu and Shala. Inscription of three lines: Ur-ni-il | Urni-il || ban-il | son of || arad za-am-(il) | servant of . |
| 11. | Grey stone. 2.7 x 1.3 cm. | Veneration of a god by two female deities. Inscription of three lines includes phrases "son of" and "servant of." |
| 15. | Hematite. 1.7 x 0.8 cm. | Hero contesting with a lion. Behind the hero stands a second man and a male deity. Background motifs: two human heads; a goose walking to the right and turning its head to the left. |
| 16. | Hematite. 2.0 x 0.9 cm. | Four deities standing in pairs. In background a crescent appears above; a fly appears below. Speleers cites Syro-Hittite or West-Mesopotamian parallels. |
| 17. | Hematite. 1.9 x 0.8 cm. | A male deity stands before a naked woman. A star symbol appears between them. A crouching stag and a bird-griffin appear between characteristic Syro-Hittite guilloches above and below. |
| 18. | Pink chalcedony. 2.4 x 1.0 cm. | Deity standing on a horned quadruped is worshiped by a man. Behind him apppears a stylized palmtree and a solar disk with bird wings and tail. |
| 19. | Opalescent chalcedony. 2.5 x 1.3 cm. | A deity walks to the right, and receives homage from a man. The deity is followed by a winged genius. |
| 20. | Pink chalcedony. 2.5 x 1.0 cm. | Worship of a stylized palmtree by two kneeling men in the presence of a solar disk with bird wings, tail and feet. |
| 21. | Pink chalcedony. 3.0 x 1.5 cm. Broken | Two kneeling men worship a stylized palmtree in the presence of a solar disk with bird wings and tail. Field motifs include an eight-rayed star and a flying eagle. |
| 22. | White chalcedony. 2.2 x 1.1 cm. | Two standing men worship a stylized palmtree. |
| 23. | Lt. brown chalcedony. 3.1 x 1.4 cm. | Archer shooting at a winged flying dragon; perhaps scene of deity Bel-Marduk attacking Tiamat. |
| 24. | Serpentine. 3.3 x 2.3 cm. | Archer aiming an arrow at a dragon; perhaps scene of Marduk attacking Tiamat. |
| 25. | Jade. 2.7 x 1.3 cm. Upper part broken. | Assyrian engraving of an archer kneeling with a quadruped figure before him. |
| 26. | White rock-stone. 2.0 x 1.1 cm. Very well-executed engraving; one of the most beautiful pieces of the collection |
Battle-scene of a genius against a bull; perhaps Marduk against Tiamat. In front there is a stylized palmtree above which appears a solar disk with outspread bird wings, feet and tail. A crescent appears on the disk. |
| 27. | Jade. 2.4 x 1.1 cm. | Two Assyrians stand before a pedestal. The man on the left holds a bow. Behind them in the field appear an eight-rayed star above and a palm branch and stick. |
| 28. | Grey chalcedony. 2.5 x 1.3 cm. |
Assyrian hero grasps the forelegs of a lion on the right and a bull on the left. The seal area near the bull's head may not have been finished. Speleers suggests seal could be of Persian origin rather than Assyrian. |
| 29. | Jade. 2.7 x 1.6 cm. Broken. | A war scene. A horse pulls a chariot with two riders. A third person lies under the horse. The chariot and the second rider are placed upon five wedges, perhaps to indicate that the war-scene took place in a mountainous country. |