Seals and Sealing in Uruk Mesopotamia

Kirstin Krusell

October 08, 2009

Introduction to the Ancient Near East

British Museum: Pale green volcanic tuff; Proto-Elamite 3000-2700 BCE

The Uruk Period

• Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age – ca. 4000-3100 BCE

• Named for the Sumerian city of Uruk, also known as Warka or the Biblical Erech– Located on eastern coast of southern Euphrates

• Defined by gradual emergence of urban life and cuneiform writing

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The Context of Cuneiform

• Urbanization and population increase– Need for more sophisticated administrative systems

• Earliest known written documents discovered in Uruk

– Pictographs gradually transformed into cuneiform

• Seals found even earlier than tablets– Devised for more efficient and reliable transactions– Seals cover same geographic scope as cuneiform– Seals dated by cuneiform inscriptions

Cylinder Seals

• Variety of materials– stone and mineral: lapis lazuli (imported from Afghanistan), calcite (marble),

carnelian, amethyst, steatite (soapstone), hematite– glass, faience, baked clay, wood, bone, shell, ivory, metal

• Often pierced lengthwise with caps at either end or topped with animal-shaped knob.

– worn on pin/string, or mounted on swivel

• Design carved in intaglio– incised on cylinder so that impression yields image in relief

Ancient and Contemporary Uses

• Protect private property– seal jars, doors– evidence of tampering is obvious

• Notarize/authorize legal transactions– contracts, loans, treaties, etc.– developed from hollow clay balls/tokens

• Seals come to be associated with the protection of the owner

– used in rituals against illness, jealousy

• Vast source of pictorial information– political, cultural, economic, societal aspects – genealogical information

Sealings: Seal-Impressed Artifacts

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Cylinder seal impressed hollow clay ball containing tokens & Drawing HN1100(Pittman 1996b

Hollow Clay Ball and Tokens

6000 year old site of Hacinebi in the Euphrates river valley of southeast Turkey

Jar Stoppers

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Uruk cylinder-seal impressed jar stopper. "Ears" motif. HN9410 -Op. 14 locus 80 & Drawing. (Pittman 1999:fig.3)

The Priest-King

British Museum: White and cream calcite; Uruk, 3200-3100 BCE

Social Hierarchy

Cattle Herd in a Wheat Field

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Department of Oriental Antiquities Limestone, Mesopotamia, Uruk Period (4100- 3000 BCE).

Animal Files

Monstrous Lions and Lion-Headed Eagles

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Department of Oriental Antiquities; Jasper cylinder seal and impression; Mesopotamia, Uruk Period (4100 BC ﾐ 3000 BC).

Mythical Beasts

Geometric Designs

British Museum: Fired steatite cylinder seal; Uruk,Early Dynastic period, about 3000-2800 BC

3000-2334 BCE

Bull-men and Heroes

British Museum: White calcite cylinder seal; Probably from southern IraqEarly Dynastic period, ca 2700 BC

A Combat Scene

Banquet Scenes

British Museum: Green sparry calcite seal; Ur, Early Dynastic Period, ca 2600 BCE

• Found in a grave at a royal cemetery in Ur

• Evidence of a gendered use of cylinder seals?

Sources

• British Museum Website– http://www.britishmuseum.org/

• Collon, Dominique. First Impression: Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East. London: British Museum Press, 1987.

• Hacinebi Archaeological Excavations– http://faculty-web.at.northwestern.edu/anthropology/stein/

• Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. Oxfordshire: Andromeda Oxford Ltd, 1990.

• Wikimedia Commons– http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page