Stamp seal and modern impression: horned animal and bird

Unknown

6th–5th millennium BCE · Steatite or chlorite · Ancient Near Eastern Art

The impressing of carved stones into clay to seal containers had a long tradition in Mesopotamia, with the earliest evidence found in Syria dating to the seventh millennium B.C. During the Ubaid period, the variety of designs carved on seals expanded from simple geometric forms to include animals with humans, snakes, and birds. Seals like this one with deeply carved animal motifs became characteristic of northern Syria and southeastern Anatolia. It is decorated with a four-legged horned animal. Above the animal is a leaf shape, possibly a stylized bird, while two bent lines under its body may represent vegetation or perhaps snakes.

Artist

Unknown

Date

6th–5th millennium BCE

Medium

Steatite or chlorite

Department

Ancient Near Eastern Art

Credit line

Bequest of Lester Wolfe, 1983