One of the most popular designs for cylinder seals in early Sumerian times is that of one or two seated deities, sometimes accompanied by the eagle. A very archaic example of this class is reproduced in Fig. [52]. The two seated beings are certainly gods, in spite of their being clean shaven and having the same faintly suggested features as the figure in the middle. It will be observed that the fringe of the short Sumerian skirt of one of the deities and also of the worshipper is represented by a series of pointed tags as in Fig. [51].
| Fig. 50. | Fig. 51. |
| Fig. 52. | Fig. 53. |
In Fig. [53] we again have two seated gods, but this time they have a large bowl between them, from which they seem to be drinking by means of tubes. They are apparently seated on camp-stools, while before one of them is a sacred tree. Their dress consists in a long robe, which covers one arm while leaving the other exposed and free, and reaches down to the ankle, the bottom of it being decorated with a fringe, and the body of it by a branch-shaped design.
Sometimes, again, we have a representation of a god seated in a boat as seen in Fig. [54]. It is impossible to say who the god is, though his divine character is clearly demonstrated by the horned cap. From the emergence of branches, or what may be flames of fire and streams of water from his shoulders, it seems a fair assumption on the part of Dr. Ward that the god is none other than Shamash, the sun-god. The boat is being propelled through the river or canal by two oarsmen, who, together with the god, are standing in the boat. The two men have different head-gears, but all three are clad solely in the old Sumerian skirt. Reeds to the height of the occupants of the boat are growing in the water, and a very primitively executed wild-boar is haunting this quaintly depicted marsh. Both bow and stern of the boat are similarly shaped, and are curved upwards to a great height. If the god be Shamash, it seems probable that here, as elsewhere, he is represented as traversing the heavens in his bark.
Another series of archaic cylinder-seals is concerned with the heroic feats of Gilgamesh and Ea-bani, two mythological beings whose conquests over bulls and lions won for them a reputation and a fame which lasted right down to the latter days of Assyrian history. We have an impression of one of the most primitive of the Gilgamesh seals in Fig. [55]. The hero stands between two bisons, one of which is being attacked by a lion and the other by a leopard, while the inhuman and semi-bestial Ea-bani is attacking the lion from behind. The occurrence of the spotted leopard is specially noteworthy, as it hardly ever occurs on later cylinders, while the presence of bisons which only haunt the highlands is an additional archaic touch, and is a further indication of the antiquity of this seal, which must have been engraved at a time when the recollection of his mountain origin was still fresh in the Sumerian’s mind, for in the later period of Babylonian art, the bison gives place to the swamp-loving buffalo. All the details of the seal betray the same primitive characteristics, and, as usual, there is no inscription.
We have already seen one royal seal-impression, and we have in Fig. [56] the seal of a later but far more famous Babylonian king, Shar-Gâni-sharri, king of Agade. In the reign of Shar-Gâni-sharri and his son Narâm-Sin, Babylonian art reached her climax,—the crudeness of the earlier work had passed away, while there is as yet no trace of the conventionalism of later days, and freedom is the keynote of her success. The scene is an oft-recurring one: a hero who to all appearance is Gilgamesh is kneeling on one knee, and holds in his hands a vase, from the overflowing streams of which the buffalo seeks to quench his thirst. The seal is engraved with vigour and precision, the boldness of which is only exceeded by the natural effect produced. Both hero and animal are treated with a freedom and fidelity seldom if ever surpassed in Oriental art, while the strength of the picture lies in the artist’s genius, and is in no way dependent on the subject, which does not lend itself to anything particularly striking or effective.
| Fig. 54. | Fig. 55. |
| Fig. 56. | Fig. 57. |
