Black hematite cylinder seal, solar cross, solar disc, sun

European Museums, The British Museum

Solar disc on a black hematite cylinder seal.

Black hematite cylinder seal

Three deities approach a seated figure, probably a king, the storm god holding his lightning fork and standing on the back of a bull, the moon god holding a crescent standard and standing in a boat, and an interceding goddess. Behind the king is a nude female figure; a human head, a bird, a lion, two small men, a pot, a staff, astral symbols, and a scorpion fill the spaces.

Assyrian-style haematite seal

A goddess stands behind a king who carries an animal offering; he faces the sun-god who holds a knife, which he uses to cut through the mountains of the east at dawn. Behind him, a lion attacks a bull. This scene is also found on Babylonian seals, but the chevron patterns used are typically Assyrian. Similar seals were used at Kultepe.


Supplementary images:


Solar disc on a black hematite cylinder seal
Taken on  Sunday 16th of August 2015
Device: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model: SP800UZ
Source:  London, United Kingdom

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