On The Chronological Range Of Neo Babylonian And Achaemenid Seals

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Achaemenid Seals

a b c

Fig. 4.—Seal impressions from tablets of the Murashu archive (after Philadelphia 810, 846, 891)

a b c

Fig. 5.—Seal impressions from tablets of the Murashu archive (after Philadelphia 808, 861, 868)

Fig. 6.—Seal impression from tablet of the Murashu archive (after Philadelphia 874)

A second subgrouping contains those impressions showing a single animal (fig. 5). Birds (Philadelphia 807-8), lions (Philadelphia 820), bulls (Philadelphia 833-34), horses (Philadelphia 841), recumbent or standing winged and horned catlike creatures (Philadelphia 852-66), as well as certain other composite creatures, occur. The final subgrouping which takes in Philadelphia 869-87 consists of circular-based stamp seals showing 3 animals arranged in a whirl pattern (fig. 6).

The seal types that replaced the typical Neo-Babylonian scene form a reasonably good parallel set to seal impressions found on the Persepolis Treasury tablets. 11 These tablets, which date to the reigns of Darius I, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes I, consist of some 198 tablets and large fragments (and some 548 smaller fragments) and approximately 199 clay labels, all of these bearing some 77 different seal impressions. 12 On the tablets (as opposed to the clay labels) the most frequently found seal impression is that depicting a hero or king (?), usually wearing the Achaemenid pleated robe and tiara with dentate upper edges, as victor, grasping 2 identical monsters or lions placed symmetrically one on either side of him (fig. 7). At Persepolis this type of seal—and only this type of seal— is inscribed with the name of the king, perhaps constituting a royal seal type. 13 This type of seal impression is found frequently on tablets in the Murashu archive (Philadelphia 903-10, here see fig. 3a), but it is never inscribed with the name of the king. On Schmidt no. 1 (fig. 8), a single human figure is depicted in combat with a catlike animal (for comparison see Philadelphia 936, fig. 3b). Additionally, the so-called ''pedestal bull-men" on Schmidt no. 1 recall those on Philadelphia 889. Scenes of the worship of Ahuramazda are

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