MAN & HORNED ANIMALS STAMP SEAL

MS MS 2411/1
MS Short Title MAN & HORNED ANIMALS STAMP SEAL
Text STAMP SEAL, STANDING MALE FIGURE BETWEEN 2 HORNED QUADRUPEDS BACK TO BACK AND HEAD TO END
Description MS on speckled dark-olive steatite or chlorite, North Syria/Iraq/Iran, 5th-4th millennium BC, 1 circular stamp seal, diam. 8,4x1,3 cm, pierced through.
Commentary The earliest stamp seals of Sumer had various geometric patterns, later more elaborate designs and illustrations like the present seal, as a proof of identity and ownership. These can, together with the counting tokens, possibly be considered forerunners to the pictographic script of ca. 3200 BC, see MSS 3008, 2726, 2424 (not on website display) and 4522/1.
Place of origin Syria / Iraq / Iran
Dates 5th - 4th millennium BC