• latw-126-1
    Gold seal ring with carnelian scarab. View of bottom surface with carved boar. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)

    Gold seal ring with carnelian scarab

    Date
    Late Lydian (Persian)
    Museum
    Istanbul, Archaeological Museum, 4632
    Museum Inventory No.
    4632
    Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
    IAM 4632
    Material
    Gold, Stone
    Object Type
    Jewelry and Ornaments, Seal
    Site
    Sardis
    Sector
    Nec
    Trench
    Butler Tomb 722
    Locus
    Butler Tomb 722
    Description
    Gold seal ring, with carnelian scarab mounted on a swivel. The hoop is made of gold wire in the form of a horseshoe that terminates in hemispherical knobs. A pin running through the scarab is riveted to the knobs on either side. The scarab is delicately modelled, with a few incisions to represent the head, wings, and legs. The flat underside is carved in intaglio, with a bristly boar walking left on a ground line. Above the boar’s back is a symbol like the Lydian letter S rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise. Diameter 2.2 cm, length of scarab 1.3 cm, width 8.5 mm.
    Comments
    From Sardis, Tomb 722.
    See Also
    Dusinberre, “Seals”.
    Bibliography
    Curtis 1925, no. 98.
    Author
    ED