Composition

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Introduction

Whether we have an ancient impression on a seal, or an ancient seal of which we have made a modern impression, we deal here exclusively with the sealing as being the intended visual rendering.

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[From notes on Naturalism ZK502]

How the iconography is arranged on a seal is important. Most images portray sitting or standing figures connected in some way to the figures or objects surrounding them. Not many seals or seal impressions excavated in Urkesh have compositions of scattered figures such as eal impression A5q704.01 which is a good example of the scatter of figures in a composition so that figures themselves are realistic but their relationship to one another is not clear. A few of the seal impressions excavated in Urkesh have a double register in the composition ( A7.420, A16c1, A16c3) which are of course different from more than one rolling of the same seal (A1.469). However some seals can have a seated figure but with a figure or object rendered in what appears as two registers (A1.364). Some seal impressions have figures of different sizes (A6.102, A7.321). The varieties of the compositions in Urkesh indicate the depth of the knowledge of the seal carvers and the choices seal owners express to these artists.

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Overview [from STYLES intro: composition]

1. how many figures are depicted in the seal
2. how many groups
3. how many figures are in each group
4. are the figures vertical, horizontal, diagonal and what is the prevalent direction
5. how close together are the figures
6. are figures touching in any way
7. how can we tell the relationship or the interactions of the figures with each other
8. what is the composition of individual groups
9. if more than one group how are compositions combined – if at all
10. what type of compositions can be combined
11. how are inscriptions placed with regard to figural compositions
12. how realistic are the scenes
13. how naturalistic are the scenes is there a difference between realistic and naturalistic??
14. what role does movement play or are the figures static
15. how are some seals connected with the profession of the seal owner
16. interaction of the figures: what relationship does the human (s) have with the animals
17. what are the different relationships that humans have with each other
18. in deity scenes – what are they doing and what relationship do humans have with them