Seal ring: horned animals flanking a tree
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.
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.
Artwork Details
- Title: Seal ring: horned animals flanking a tree
- Period: Iron Age II
- Date: ca. 10th–8th century BCE
- Geography: Iran, Luristan, Surkh Dum
- Culture: Iran
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 1 in. (2.5 cm)
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1943
- Object Number: 43.102.13
- Curatorial Department: Ancient West Asian Art
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Iran
ca. 8th century BCE
Iran
ca. 10th–8th century BCE
ca. 9th–8th century BCE
Achaemenid
ca. 5th century BCE
Achaemenid
ca. 6th–4th century BCE
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