Stamp Seal

Semi-translucent, yellowish stamp with a rounded top and engraved areas. The seal is accompanied by three gray clay impressions showing (1) a stylized representation of a figure at right, standing before a spade and a stylus, facing an altar with a long-necked, four-legged animal; (2) a stylized dog seated on its hind legs facing right; (3) a tall, stylized structure resembling either an incense burner or lamp.

Stamp seal and modern impression

Description:
Stamp seal and modern impression with a worshipper or priest before the divine symbols of Marduk (spade) and Nabu (stylus) on a mušhuššu-dragon altar (on face), a dog and lamp or incense burner (on sides)
Medium:
Bluish chalcedony
Location:
Probably Mesopotamia, Iraq
Dimensions:
H. 2.9 cm; W. 2.13 cm; D. 1.65 cm
Date:
Neo-Assyrian or Neo-Babylonian Period, ca. 725–539 BCE
Inventory Number:
41.160.271
Lender:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art
Credit:
Bequest of W. Gedney Beatty, 1941
Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY