Fig. 65.

Fig. 66.

In Fig. [65] we have a seal-impression of Ur-Engur, king of Ur about 2400 B.C. The scene depicted is a familiar one: an intermediary god is in the act of introducing a suppliant worshipper to a superior deity seated on a throne. The enthroned god has a lengthy beard and wears a round hat somewhat resembling the turban worn by Gudea (cf. Pl. [XXIII]). He is resting one arm on the back of his throne, while his right hand is extended in apparent invitation to the slowly approaching worshipper. The throne itself, unlike the box-like seats of earlier days, is provided with a back, and the back legs are fashioned after the legs of an ox. The intermediate deities wear the horned cap with which the gods in Gudea’s time were usually covered, while horns appear to rise also from out of their heads, the horns oddly enough being identical in shape with those on the terra-cotta head discovered during the recent excavations in Babylonia.[135] The seated deity is clad in a long simple garment reaching down to the feet, his dress being simpler than that of the attendant deities, or even that of the worshipper himself. The latter wears a long tunic, and a fringed mantle over his left shoulder. Both of the intermediaries are likewise apparelled in lengthy garments, which differ, however, from each other and also from that of the worshipper in being more elaborately worked, the divine introducer wearing the richer robe of the two. The inscription refers to Ur-Engur, king of Ur, who may conceivably be the figure seated on the throne; in support of this theory, it is worth noting that the kings of this dynasty were often deified while yet on earth. Ur-Engur was succeeded by Dungi, the impression of one of whose cylinder-seals is given in Fig. [66]. Both of these seals are preserved in the British Museum. A bearded and horn-capped god is standing before an altar shaped like a high standing vase, from which arises a feathered branch which may be intended to represent the ascending flame, while two long bare stalks with tufted heads hang over the altar on either side. The god holds in his left hand a weapon, the upper end of which is provided with a lateral semicircular handle, similar to that found at Tellô by De Sarzec, and also to that represented on the stone vase of Gudea (cf. Fig. [90]). In his extended right hand he holds a three-stalked flower, which is an exact replica of that found in the hands of mythical beings on later Assyrian bas-reliefs. On the other side of the altar is the suppliant, clad in the same fringed garment seen in Fig. [65], while his right hand is raised in adoration. Behind him is another worshipper whose dress resembles that of the god, and who is similarly crowned with a horned cap, but in spite of this divine distinction he has both hands raised in worship. Dungi was succeeded by Bur-Sin, one of whose cylinder-seals is seen in Fig. [67]. The scene varies little from that found on the seals of his predecessors. A seated god, a worshipper, and another adoring figure wearing a divine head-gear behind. The god wears a turban as in the seal of Ur-Engur (cf. Fig. [65]); he reposes on a very thickly upholstered seat, while both his own feet and those of his throne rest on a small low platform. The worshipper here has his hands clasped in front in much the same way as Gudea’s hands are, in the statues from Tellô, but the third figure, whom Ward somewhat humorously describes as a “flounced goddess,” has both hands raised. An impression of a cylinder-seal of Gimil-Sin, the successor of Bur-Sin on the throne of Ur, is reproduced in Fig. [68]. The turbaned and long-bearded god is again seated on a richly upholstered divan, and is elevated on a little platform. He holds in his right hand a double-handled vase, while his left hand is concealed in the folds of his flounced robe. The garment of the intermediary is exactly the same as that of the seated god, but a horned cap takes the place of the turban. The worshipper behind has one hand raised like his usher, while the fringed garment hanging from his shoulder is arranged so as to allow his left leg to be seen. A seal of Ibi-Sin, the last of the dynasty (cf. Fig. [69]) presents the same subject, while the treatment practically shows no variation. It will have been noticed that the star and crescent find a place on some of these cylinders, while from others they are absent,—from which it may reasonably be inferred that they were mere symbolic accessories, and as such of no vital importance.

All these seals bear inscriptions in contradistinction to those belonging to the earlier period, and a considerable part of the field of the cylinder is occupied with writing instead of scenery. But as time went on this tendency became more pronounced, and during the Kassite period, sometimes nearly the whole of the seal is occupied with an inscription, usually of a religious character. Thus on a cylinder inscribed with the name of Kurigalzu, the Kassite king of Babylonia (circ. 1400 B.C.) (cf. Fig. [70]) the pictorial element is reduced to one single figure, that of the worshipper.

Fig. 67.Fig. 68.
Fig. 69.Fig. 70.

An extremely interesting seal-impression of the Kassite period is published by Clay in The Museum Journal, University of Pennsylvania (I, 1910, pp. 4-6). It is dated in the fourth year of Nazi-Maruttash, king of Babylon (circ. 1330 B.C.) (cf. Fig. [71]). Three bearded men are engaged in ploughing; one is urging on the two humped oxen who are yoked to the ploughshare, the second holds the handles, while the third appears to be pouring grain into a drill attached to the plough.

It has been said that this seal-impression gives us the earliest representation of the Babylonian plough, but that statement must be considerably modified in the light of the early seal-impressions given by Ward (p. 132, Figs. 369, 371, 372). The plough is portrayed on all these three cylinders, and they all antedate the cylinder-seal of Nazi-Maruttash (cf. also the votive-tablet from Nippur, Fig. [25], E).