Cylinder Seal with Figures Fighting Antelopes
Cylinder Seal with Figures Fighting Antelopes
Artist
Unidentified
Period
Akkadian Period
(Akkadian, 2350-2150 BCE)
Place of OriginLikely Iraq
Dateabout 2350-2200 BCE
Dimensions1 1/8 × 11/16 in. (2.9 × 1.7 cm)
Mediumstone
ClassificationJewelry
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number
1912.1274
Not on View
DescriptionStone cylinder seal with a carved scene showing two bearded men attacking two antelopes. One figure wears a turban-like headdress. The figures and animals are shown in profile with raised arms and bent legs. The carving is detailed and well preserved, with incised lines emphasizing musculature and movement.
Label TextThis cylinder seal was carved between 2350 and 2200 BCE during the Akkadian Period in Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq. Seals like this one were used to roll impressions into clay, marking property or validating documents—functions central to early bureaucratic systems. The carved scene shows two bearded men attacking antelopes, rendered in detailed, low-relief linework. The figures’ stances and attributes reflect the stylized visual language of Akkadian art.Comparative ReferencesSee also Boehmer, R.M., Die Entwicklung der Glyptik wahrend der Akkad-Zeit, Berlin, 1965, pl. I-XXIII.
1st century CE
Hadrianic (about 130 CE)
Unidentified, Gorgoneion Group
about 560 BCE
5th century CE
Late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE
1650-1700
26th Dynasty (664–525 BCE)
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