Cylinder seal

From Freepedia

The Cylinder seals in ancient times, were used to put an impression in clay. But in the case of the cylinder seal, it is a picture rolled onto the clay, (into the clay). The seal itself is made from a hard stone, (or of glass(Egyptian "faience")), of many varieties, types of rocks, often lapis lazuli, because of the beauty of the blue stone. Graves, and other sites, for example a hoard of precious items, often contained gold, silver, beads, gemstones, etc. often including 1 or 2 Cylinder seals.

Other mineral types for the cylinder seals: hematite, obsidian, steatite, etc.

Cylinder seals, are listed in today's, present day books, and books from decades ago, as one, ( 1 ), of a small category of the Impression seal. The other common impression seal listed is ( 2 ), the Stamp seal.

Contents 1 Theme-driven, Memorial, and Commemorative nature 2 Cylinder seals 3 See 4 See also 5 References

Theme-driven, Memorial, and Commemorative nature

These impresson seals, are in the 'main', theme driven (often Sociological/Religious). Instead of addressing the "authority" of the seal, a better study may be of the thematic nature of the seals, since the ideas of the society are presented, in pictographic, scenic, "action-scenes", "hieroglyphic" script, and also "cuneiform" script. In the "action-scene" example of Darius I's cylinder seal, Darius' chariot horse is trampling a deceased lion, while he is Aiming with Drawn Bow at an "Upright, Enraged Lion with 2 Arrows Impaled." The scene is also framed between 2 slim Palm Trees, a Block story of Hieroglyphs, and above the "Action Scene", the symbol of Ahura Mazda, the 'god' representation of Zoroastrianism.

Cylinder seals

The reference below, Garbini, covers the following "types" of Cylinder seals. Note that the book is in the category of "Artworks, from World History".

A beginning Categorization of Cylinder seals:

• Akkadian cylinder seals
• Assyrian cylinder seals
• Egyptian cylinder seals
• --Egyptian Naqada period (tombs, graves),(imported)
• --Egyptian Faience
• Kassite cylinder seals
• Mitannian cylnder seals
• Old Babylonian cylinder seals
• Persian cylinder seals; see Darius I.
• Proto-Elamite cylinder seals
• "Shamash pictographic seals"; see Mari, Syria
• Sumerian cylinder seals; See Gilgamesh
• ---Seals of the "Moon-God", see Sin (mythology).
• ---see Ref.(Robinson), Seal of Ur-Nammu, 2112-2095 BCE. Close-up picture of Seal, and adjacent 'modern impression', high resolution, 2X-3X natural size.
• Neo-Sumerian cylinder seals
• ---see Ref.(Garbini), "Seated God, and Worshippers", Cylinder seal, and a modern Impression, p. 40, (British Museum, London).
• Syrian cylinder seals

See

• Seal
• Sealing
• Stamp
• Stamping

See also

• Impression seal
  • Stamp seal
    • LMLK seal from Lachish, ca 700 BC. (Same topic: MMST.)
    • Tell Halaf
  • Scaraboid seal

References

• Bahn,Paul. Lost Treasures, Great Discoveries in World Archaeology, Ed. by Paul G. Bahn, (Barnes and Noble Books, New York), c 1999. Examples of, or discussions of Stamp seals, Cylinder seals, and a "metal stamp seal".

• Garbini,Giovanni. Landmarks of the World's Art, The Ancient World, by Giovanni Garbini, (McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, Toronto), General Eds, Bernard S. Myers, New York, Trewin Copplestone, London, c 1966. Discussion, or pictures of about 25 "cylinder seals"; also lists the "Scaraboid seal", an impression seal(needs to be a Mirror/Reverse to be an impression seal).

• Metropolitan Museum. Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Tablets, Cones, and Bricks of the Third and Second Millenia B.C., vol. 1 (New York, 1988). The final section(Bricks) of the book concerns "Cylinder Seals", with a Foreward describing the purpose of the section as to instigate Research into Cylinder Seals. The 'cylinder sealing' on the Bricks, was done multiple times per brick. Some are of high quality, and some are not. (Also contains the only ( 2 ) el Amarna letters, in the USA, with Analysis.)

• Robinson,Andrew. The Story of Writing, Andrew Robinson, (Thames and Hudson), c 1995, paperback ed., c 1999. (Page 70, Chapter 4: Cuneiform) Ur-Nammu cylinder seal (and impression), with 2095 BCE hieroglyphs, 2X-3X; Darius I, impression only, of chariot hunting scene, 2X, ca 500 BCE.