Unusual motifs

Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati – July 2000, March 2026

Introduction

In Urkesh we have excavated some seal impressions with designs formed by compositional patterns or details different from the styles I have already discussed. So for instance below we see a composition stressing a triangular design. Or in another set of seals that have a two register composition. However some charactistics of even these seals connect them to other styles. So for instance the seal with prominent triangles has a human figure with a frontally positioned eye similar, but not exactly, to the eyes in the Dotted Eye style. The scene with a birdman and a nude woman is conntected both connected with the Dotted Eye and the Deep Fringe.

An unusual composition is a double register one. Here in the example mentioned above the lower register is formed by positioning the figures sideways with respect to the figures in the upper register. Some of the two register compositions have the registers separated by a ladder type design (eg. A16.172, A16c3, J1q1175.2). In A16c1 only a straight line separates the two; in A7.420 a straight line separates most of the register of birds above but in one part the human head of what appears to be a shepard interrupts the line.

In double register compositions rows of animals are prominent but seated figures are not common. A16c1 shows a seated figure in front of a table holding up a conical cup but A16c104 has a similar image with a conical cup but no table. If we focus on the animals in this type of composition we see that birds are favored. In A7.420 a row of small birds is positioned above animals that may be caprids and a shepard. A16c1 has a line of birds shown in profile or front view and attached to them a plant motif extending from their shoulder or neck. These birds are flanking a large flower. A shepard is part of J1q1175.2 where both registers depict caprids, one with a small animal suckling.

A16c1 is the most unusual because it has a wide variety of figures including two humans, a bird man, nude female, a bull with what may be a lion above. Extended below these figures is the head and beard of a bull man facing forward and a human. The seated figure and the human in a short skire are positioned ab ove the head of the bullman.The birdman is standing above the nude figure and the nude woman is placed above the horn of the bull man. While the humans in A16c1 are all interacting with the seated figure in this scene only one human figure appears to be also holding the cup.

Triangular details

The scene with a triangular head (composite AKc106 including A5q923.6, A5q939.9, A1.500, A1.486) shows the figure in a frontal view and the human figure placed next to this figure has also a frontal body but with the head in profile. The triangular headed figure has a single drill hole for the neck, a triangular torso ,and a very small waist. The arms are for the most part straight with a rectangular end when attached to the body. The sword is straight but one edge is tapered near the point. Only one hoof of an animal is preserved; it is emphasized by depicting it large and in a triangular shape.

There is a variation in size and some aspects of the body between the triangular figure and the small human placed near the triangular head and torso. The human figure is more modeled in its body and its head is carved as a small triangle with rounded edges and a large drill hole for the single eye shown in front view. This has a similar effect as the carving of the eye in the Dotted Eye style even if the line of the eye is not connected with the nose or chin.

We can see from the A1.500 seal impression carving style that the carving is at right angles to the background and the edge of the top surface also at right angles; the only possible trace of a drill hole is evident at the neck and the eye.

The carving of the head and body of the human figure are not flat but are full with rounded edges. However the forms have sharp angles, especially shown in the figure with a triangular head. Leading us to think that the original material for the seal was something softer than stone, possibly wood or clay.

Birdman and nude woman

The heads of the birdman and the nude woman in the circus scene c1 (composit AKc104 which includes A1.127, A1.135, A1q978.6 and smaller fragments A1.128, A1.377, A5q933.4 and posibly A1.142) and its reverse c2 (A1.159, A5q835.3, A1.275) are done in the style of a large circle or oval in the center and the empty space around. This is extreme in these two figures in the circus scene. Also contributing to this impression is the fact that the heads of these two figures, while stylized, are shown in front view. In the case of the nude woman her whole figure is shown in front view- but the figure of the bird man is shown in profile and only the eye part of the face is seen in front view. This front view is not well articulated as it has only the exterior line as a slight oval and a drill hole for the eye in the center of this, the carving of the drill hole is continued down to indicate the very thin neck.The way the beard of the head of a bullman is rendered is similar to the beards as shown in the Deep Fringe style. Also the pattern below the standing bull is similar to patterns in the Deep Fringe also.

The fact the circus scene is connected to Dotted Eye Style is confirmed by the carving of the two human figures in the scene; they have the same dotted eye and full bodies with undifferentiated volumes as the figures in the Innin Shadu scene (h4).

A5.135, Lyre-att (q4), lyre-table (q6,q7 and probably q8)

Comments on A5.135 Many times in this style the surface of the figure is flat (as in lion here). The characteristic deeply incised decoration on the edge is shown by the lion’s mane carved along the upper edge of the figure. The fact that it is carved along the upper edge is only significant in that it was not seen by the seal cutter as a realistic design (and so to be shown also on the surface and lower edge of the figure) but as an edge pattern. This is also the case in the hair behind the leg of the caprid on the left. Some animals have full bodies as the lion on the left but here too a small portion of the lion’s mane with the characteristic deeply cut hair pattern on the edge is hinted at.