Akkadian Cylinder Seal with Two Heroes Attacking Two Bulls
Artist
Unidentified artist
CultureSumerian, Akkadian
Datec. 2350-2300 BCE
Mediumgreen nephrite
Dimensions1 1/4 x 11/16 in. (3.2 x 1.8 cm)
Classificationssculpture
Credit LineAckland Fund
Object number72.53.2
DescriptionThe seal depicts two human figures and four animals. At left a naked man wearing a belt faces right with frontal head, long, elaborate curls, and a long, full beard. He grips a rearing bull’s foreleg with his left hand and stabs it in the neck. This bull forms an X with a second, standing bull that faces an attacking male figure like the first. To right a rearing ibex or moufflon confronts a rearing lion, which seizes the ibex’s throat.Cylinder seal mounted on plexi w/ an impression made from the seal (terracotta colored).
Good condition. Carving is legible. Nephrite (?); dark green with some lighter green, red, flecks of white. Greenish bronze residue in longitudinal hole.
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