Middle Assyrian Hematite Cylinder Seal with Animal Contest Scene

Culture: Assyrian

Period: 13th-12th century B.C.

Material: Hematite

Dimensions: 2 cm high

Price: 1 600 Euro

Ref: 6696

Provenance: From the Austrian collection Danho Abdul Massich, acquired in 1978 and since then in Austria.

Condition: Intact

Description: Wonderfully polished and almost sculpturally carved Middle Assyrian cylinder seal in hematite, depicting an animal combat scene. A stylised predator, likely a lion, with its tail raised and curled at the tip, attacks a horned animal, perhaps a stag. The latter flinches in fear and turns anxiously toward its attacker. The bodies of the animals are muscular and rendered in a plastic manner, with the bones subtly visible through their flesh. The scene is framed by a stylised plant. Above the animals appear a crescent moon and a sun as divine astral symbols. See for the type, the cylinder seal in The Morgan Library & Museum in New York, with the inventary number Morgan Seal 604.