A LATE ASSYRIAN CHALCEDONY CYLINDER SEAL

CIRCA 800-700 B.C.

Details

A LATE ASSYRIAN CHALCEDONY CYLINDER SEAL
CIRCA 800-700 B.C.
With a worshipper, hands raised making an offering to a bull-man, behind the worshipper a man with an ox-pulled plough, a shadoof, six-pointed star and crescent moon in the field, inscribed with five symbols in the Phoenician alphabet reading: 'belonging to Bel-nuri'
5/8 in. (1.6 cm.) high

Provenance

Private collection, Germany, acquired 1980s.
Translated by Professor W. G. Lambert, University of Birmingham, January 1984.

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Lot Essay

PUBLISHED:
M. Dietrich and O. Loretz (eds), Internationales Jahrbuch für die Altertumskunde Syrien-Palästinas, Band 35, 2003, pp. 560-561, no. 57.

Professor W. G. Lambert, in his written report, writes: 'The shadoof for raising water seems to be totally unique on cylinder seals of all periods', thereby attesting to this scene's incredible rarity. He also notes that an explanation for the Phoenician inscription and the inclusion of the shadoof is that the seal was cut in an area of the Assyrian empire under the western provinces for the local market.

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