• latw-128-1
    Cylinder seal. View of surface with carved hero-king figure, two lion-griffins and two winged sphinxes. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)

    Cylinder seal

    The Lydians and their World (2010) Cat. 128
    Date
    Late Lydian (Persian)
    Museum
    Istanbul, Archaeological Museum, 4581
    Museum Inventory No.
    4581
    Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
    IAM 4581
    Material
    Agate, Stone
    Object Type
    Jewelry and Ornaments, Seal
    Site
    Sardis
    Sector
    Nec
    Trench
    Butler Tomb 813
    Locus
    Butler Tomb 813
    Description
    Agate cylinder seal in a gold mounting consisting of a pin held in place by two gold plates, with a gold loop on top set with granulations. The seal shows a crowned hero-king figure controlling two rampant lion-griffins, with two winged, crowned sphinxes as pedestal figures crouching on a ground line. Total height 3 cm, height of stone 1.85 cm, diameter 7.5 mm.
    Comments
    From Sardis, Tomb 813. In the same tomb were found gold ornaments of no. 12 (Curtis). For Tomb 813, one of the few tombs excavated by Butler that can now be identified, see Greenewalt et al. 1987, 36-44.
    See Also
    Dusinberre, “Seals”.
    Bibliography
    Curtis 1925, no. 104.
    Author
    ED

    Related Artifacts