A NEO-ASSYRIAN BROWN STONE CYLINDER SEAL

900-750 B.C.

Details

A NEO-ASSYRIAN BROWN STONE CYLINDER SEAL
900-750 B.C.
With the god, Ninurta, chasing after and firing arrows at a mythical leonine bird-like creature, perhaps the Anzu bird, another fleeing creature below and a smaller griffin-like bird in the field, a rhomb, star, crescent and the Pleiades above, cuneiform inscriptions in the field
1¾ in. (4.4 cm.) high

Lot Essay

Cf. D. Collon, First Impressions: Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East, The British Museum, London, 1987, p. 168, pl. 783 for a similar scene; also J. Black and A. Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, The British Museum, London, 1992, front cover illustration.

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