Cylinder Seal

CBS Register: Babylonian seal cylinder, limestone.

PBS XIV: Archaic scene in two registers. In the upper register two seated figures with bird like heads drink through a pipe, from a vase between them. A servant stands behind holding a door. The seats have a plain cubic form, vertical bars, a low back and perhaps a cushion. The door has cross bars and a crest of curved lines suggestive of wicker work. The servant wears the Sumerian skirt of woolen flounced material, closing behind and leaving arms and chest bare. The seated human or divine figures have moreover a long shawl thrown over one shoulder. All are shaven and shorn according to the Sumerian custom. The door, seats and drink may be a symbol of an offering in a temple, or a feast at home.

In the lower register an eagle, with outspread wings, seizes with his talons two crouched ibexes. The animals have one leg lifted in a very well observed attitude. A branch forms a primitive landscape. Cyl. seal. White marble, or shell (?), 43 x 15 mm.