Seal ring: horned animals flanking a tree

Unknown

ca. 10th–8th century BCE · Bronze · Ancient Near Eastern Art

This is a bronze ring with an intaglio image carved on it. The image shows a stylized plant with cone-shaped fronds flanked by two horned creatures. Behind each creature is a rosette, and above them is a cuneiform inscription reading "dingir mesh tuk" in Sumerian – part of a prayer. This ring was excavated at Surkh Dum, a settlement site in Luristan in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran It was part of a large hoard of objects buried beneath a doorjamb in a structure interpreted as a sanctuary; thus the objects were probably offerings made for a god. In all likelihood the ring was used a seal before being deposited in the sanctuary.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 10th–8th century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Iran

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1943