#cylinderseal — Public Fediverse posts

Cylinder seal excavated at Tell Agrab (Frankfort 1955, Ag.35:793).
Shrine with gatepost symbols below a curved line; above: a face + three rosettes, linked by lines.

The best part?
That oddly friendly face 😄 staring straight back at you.
Not divine distance — but closeness. Almost humor.

🪨 White limestone | 📏 5 × 4.4 cm
Ancient seals had personality. This one still does.

#LookAtThisSeal #CylinderSeal #AncientArt #Archaeology #KISHIBProject

🪔 Did you know?
Cylinder seals came in many sizes and colors — from tiny 0.5 cm miniatures to impressive 7 cm examples, often with a 2:1 height-to-diameter ratio.

Most were carved from stones like serpentine, lapis lazuli, or hematite — but not all! Less valuable materials such as shell, bone, quartz ceramic, or even clay (as in burgul seals) were also used, and metal examples are extremely rare.

Small objects, great variety.

#QuickFacts #KISHIBProject #Mesopotamia #AncientArt #CylinderSeal

This cylinder seal shows a sacrifice in front of a ziggurat. A priest in a long robe faces right, standing before a censer and a sacrificial table with legs ending in animal feet. On the table lie curved offerings and four dotted elements that mark additional gifts.

🔹 Middle Assyrian period (13th-12th BCE)
🔹 Stone cylinder seal, VA 05362
🔹 Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
👉 https://id.smb.museum/object/2065364/

#KISHIBProject #mesopotamia #cylinderseal #ziggurat #glyptic

This cylinder seal shows a sacrifice in front of a ziggurat. A priest in a long robe faces right, standing before a censer and a sacrificial table with legs ending in animal feet. On the table lie curved offerings and four dotted elements that mark additional gifts.

🔹 Middle Assyrian period (13th-12th BCE)
🔹 Stone cylinder seal, VA 05362
🔹 Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
👉 https://id.smb.museum/object/2065364/

#KISHIBProject #mesopotamia #cylinderseal #ziggurat #glyptic

This cylinder seal shows a sacrifice in front of a ziggurat. A priest in a long robe faces right, standing before a censer and a sacrificial table with legs ending in animal feet. On the table lie curved offerings and four dotted elements that mark additional gifts.

🔹 Middle Assyrian period (13th-12th BCE)
🔹 Stone cylinder seal, VA 05362
🔹 Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
👉 https://id.smb.museum/object/2065364/

#KISHIBProject #mesopotamia #cylinderseal #ziggurat #glyptic

This cylinder seal shows a sacrifice in front of a ziggurat. A priest in a long robe faces right, standing before a censer and a sacrificial table with legs ending in animal feet. On the table lie curved offerings and four dotted elements that mark additional gifts.

🔹 Middle Assyrian period (13th-12th BCE)
🔹 Stone cylinder seal, VA 05362
🔹 Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
👉 https://id.smb.museum/object/2065364/

#KISHIBProject #mesopotamia #cylinderseal #ziggurat #glyptic

This cylinder seal shows a sacrifice in front of a ziggurat. A priest in a long robe faces right, standing before a censer and a sacrificial table with legs ending in animal feet. On the table lie curved offerings and four dotted elements that mark additional gifts.

🔹 Middle Assyrian period (13th-12th BCE)
🔹 Stone cylinder seal, VA 05362
🔹 Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
👉 https://id.smb.museum/object/2065364/

#KISHIBProject #mesopotamia #cylinderseal #ziggurat #glyptic

To “read” a cylinder seal impression:
🐂 Spot the motifs
🌀 Follow the narrative flow
🔠 Look for inscriptions

These impressions were more than decoration – they carried identity and authority.

Shamash is identified by the rays and the saw. He was the Mesopotamian sun god. He was also responsible for justice and could be associated with the underworld.

All visible in this tiny serpentine cylinder from the Akkadian Period (end of 3rd millennium BCE).

#KISHIB #CylinderSeal #Mesopotamia

Watch "THOUSANDS Of These Have Been Found Around The Ancient World" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/UvRod-AfQww?si=FGUwj1Ki3rI3LQL8

#JoeScott #Cylinder #CylinderSeal #Signature #Science #authentication