Cylinder Seal

Label

Seals were used to roll or press symbols into a surface—typically, wet clay. Seals can combine both inscriptions and symbols to identify the person who owns and uses the seal. Seals are usually made of hard stones, since a softer stone like limestone would wear away through repeated use, leading to a less legible impression. The lands around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers did not have natural deposits of hard stone, meaning that most of the stones used for seals were likely imported via trade routes. Seals played a key role in administrative tasks, complementing the intense record-keeping demonstrated through the cuneiform tablets also in this case. The stamp seal features a single scene of a worshipper raising his hands in prayer in front of an altar, while the cylinder seal bears a range of symbols including a hawk, a scorpion, and a geometric pattern.

From the 2025 exhibition Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

ANTH 12.2, The Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Jason Herrmann, Spring 2013

Anthropology 74.01, The Human Spectrum, Nate Dominy, Spring 2023

Exhibition History

Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 7, 2025 - Ongoing

Provenance

Collected by Mary Maynard Hitchcock (1834-1887) and Hiram Hitchcock (1832-1900, Class of 1872H), in Egypt (possibly from a dealer in Alexandria or Cairo), about 1867-68; bequeathed to his second wife, Emily Howe Hitchcock (1852-1912), Hanover, New Hampshire, 1900; bequeathed to present collection, 1912.

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