Antiquities Sold

Rare Rectangular Anatolian-Syrian Seal from c. 3000 B.C.

There were several different seal forms used in Western Asia during the 4th to 1st millenia B.C. One of the scarcest is this rectangular amulet form that was used in southern and eastern Anatolia and northern Syria from c. 3,500 B.C. to 2,000 B.C. It is a development from the square, flat amuletic seals that were most popular in the 4th millenium throughout the Levant but probably of Egyptian origin. This is a partiularly elegant example in black steatite of some 21 mm drilled longitudinally for suspension.

Animals, and especially animals in pairs or threes, were very common on stamp seals from this region, either as symbols of the gods or as protective, sacrifical offerings. In this case we have a stag and a caproid, likely a gazelle. They are well carved to neatly fill the available space and march like a decorative frieze. Most Syrian and Anatolian animal seals are more chaotically arranged, with small elements to fill empty spaces at random. In this case it is more like the formal decoration on palace friezes and was a clearly special piece in its day. The seal comes with a description and dating by Professor Lambert of Manchester University, and provenance from an important New York dealer.

Very fine condition with documentation.

$195.00

Byzantine Bronze Seal from c. 800 A.D.

A Byzantine bronze seal with three lines of inscription dating from c. 800 A.D. It is a modern metal detector find and comes from the old Roman and Byzantine fortress of Nish in Serbia. It seems that it belonged to a man named "John" and has his titles listed below his name, possibly a local patriarch. This is an ancient and long used seal shape, as I have seen examples from 3,000 B.C. to the 20th century. This seal dates from the time of the Empress Irene, the end of the destructive Iconoclast struggle in Byzantium and of the Empire of Charlemage in Europe. Charlemagne had close relations with Irene and the Byzantines, and Nish was likely active as a trading town then. Soon after, the Byzantines lost the town to the Bulgars, and then to the Serbs, ending the last vestige of the Roman Empire in the West. (Note flipped, right-reading image at right bottom.)

Very Good condition.

$300.00

Jemdat Nasr Ivory Cylinder Seal from 3100-2900 B.C.

A nice and scarce ivory cylinder seal with a "net" pattern, triangular, zig-zag borders and single line edges dating from the early Sumerian Jemdat Nasr period, c. 3100-2900 B.C.E. The net pattern is intended to portray a hunting net, and on some seals we actually see animals captured in it. The early Sumerians, and indeed most early peoples, were descended from hunter-farmers, and hunting was both important and had high social status. The Roman animal fight games, which were much more common than gladitorial fights, are a later example of this, and it is still seen in such rituals as the English fox hunt. The triangular cut ends portray the appearance of the gold mountings that these seals had. Ivory was a scarce and sought after material in those times and this was a seal of someone special. Ivory is a fragile and easily destroyed material that both rots and burns, and few ivory artifacts survive today. 18 mm tall by 9 mm diameter.

Good condition with some chipping to the ends.

$250.00

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