• latw-125-10
    Gold seal ring. Side view of bottom surface with carved bull. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)
  • latw-125-20
    Gold seal ring. Detail of bottom surface with carved bull. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)

Gold seal ring

Date
Late Lydian (Persian)
Museum
Istanbul, Archaeological Museum, 4520
Museum Inventory No.
4520
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
IAM 4520
Material
Gold
Object Type
Jewelry and Ornaments, Seal
Site
Sardis
Sector
Nec
Trench
Butler Tomb 220
Locus
Butler Tomb 220
Description
Gold seal ring, with carnelian scarab mounted on a swivel. Thin wire runs through a hole drilled through the scarab, then passes through perforations in the ends of the hoop wire and wraps six times around the hoop wire on each side. The scarab is explicitly modelled, including the head of the beetle and several ridges on the sides to represent its legs. The flat oval underside surface is carved in intaglio, with a long-legged bull walking right on a ground line, its tail held in a high loop. Diameter 2.1 cm, length of scarab 1.6 cm, width 1.25 cm, height 1 cm.
Comments
From Sardis, Tomb 220. In the same tomb were found chain no. 28 and seal no. 112 (Curtis).
See Also
Dusinberre, “Seals”.
Bibliography
Curtis 1925, no. 96.
Author
ED