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An intaglio object made of orange-brown quartz in the shape of a narrow cylinder. It is engraved with the image of a person standing upright on a crouched four-legged animal. The person is wearing a long skirt and a head piece. Stars are shown behind and around their head.

An intaglio object made of orange-brown quartz in the shape of a narrow cylinder. It is shown standing upright on a dark grey background. It is engraved with the image of a person standing upright on a crouched four-legged animal. The person is shown as a profile and they face the viewer’s left. The person is wearing a long skirt and a head piece. Stars are shown behind and around their head.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1958.51
Title
Cylinder Seal: Deities and Worshipper
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Cylinder Seal: God on Mountain, Worshipper and Crescent, Goddess Ishtar and Lion
Classification
Seals
Work Type
seal
Date
c. 883-612 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia, Assyria
Period
Neo-Assyrian period
Culture
Mesopotamian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/291233

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3440, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Middle Eastern Art in the Service of Kings
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Quartz
Technique
Intaglio
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: in two lines: Belonging to Ubashi- ..., eunuch of Piqitti-ilima.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Edward A. Waters, (by 1958), gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1958.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Edward Waters
Accession Year
1958
Object Number
1958.51
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Description
Beardless worshipper, presumably the seal owner, before two astral deities: a bearded deity with sword and two star-tipped bow cases holds a ring and stands on a mountain; on a lion behind him stands the goddess Ishtar with the same attributes.

Publication History

  • Zoltan Niederreiter, An unpublished Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires (2016), v. 2, pp. 81-82
  • Jennifer Roberts, Contact: The Art and Pull of Print, Princeton University Press (Princeton and Oxford, 2024), pp. 13-14, fig. 1.1

Exhibition History

  • [Teaching Exhibition], Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, 11/01/1972 - 01/01/1973
  • Impressions of Mesopotamia: Seals from the Ancient Near East, Arthur M. Sackler Museum
  • Re-View: S422 Ancient & Byzantine Art & Numismatics, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 04/12/2008 - 06/18/2011
  • 32Q: 3440 Middle East, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu