A WESTERN ASIATIC CHALCEDONY CYLINDER SEAL

NORTHWEST IRAN, CIRCA 800-700 B.C.

細節

A WESTERN ASIATIC CHALCEDONY CYLINDER SEAL
Northwest Iran, Circa 800-700 B.C.
Unfinished, with three figures facing right, in the center a king standing with his right arm raised, holding a rod in his left hand, wearing a tall conical cap with a spike at the top, ornamented with three bands of dots, the ties falling in back to the level of his waist, his ankle-length garment open at the front and decorated with dot-rosettes and a band of concentric squares bordering the fringe, his hair falling to his shoulders and his full beard reaching his chest, a sword hanging at his side, the pommel visible in front and the point of the scabbard behind, a bracelet on his right wrist, a servant standing behind him, no doubt a eunuch, holding a fan in his right hand, a scepter in the other, with shoulder-length hair, wearing a wrap-around garment decorated with dotted squares and a band of X's bordering the deep fringe, and in front of the king a stag standing erect on hind-legs, the remaining space on the stone blank, the perforation not drilled
34 x 20 mm

拍品專文

This seal is of the highest quality and compares favorably to Assyrian work from the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (746-727 B.C.). However, there are variances from what is the norm in Assyria, such as the straight edge of the king's garment, the great difference in the height of the king and his servant, and the pose of the stag. It seems likely that this seal comes from one of the small kingdoms in northwestern Iran, such as that of the Mannaeans.