Roster |
Date |
Author |
Record |
Ware or Material, species |
2002-09-27 |
sB |
cl [Input: MX05SB.j] |
Color |
2002-10-12 |
fLP |
outside-pinkish grey inside-light brown [Input: MX12FLP.j] |
Color number (Munsell) |
2002-10-12 |
fLP |
inside-7.5YR 6/4 [Input: MX12FLP.j] |
2002-10-12 |
fLP |
outside-7.5YR 7/2 [Input: MX12FLP.j] |
Preservation |
2002-09-27 |
sB |
large piece, possibly whole si [Input: MX05SB.j] |
Iconographic description, specific |
2002-10-12 |
fLP |
This seal-impressed object contains three separate rollings of the same seal. The first rolling, at the top of the object, is the smallest and only depicts part of the head of a dog, which nips at the tail of a suckling ewe. Its head is clearly represented, but its facial features are obscured. Only the hindquarters of the ewe are seen with part of the head of the suckling young. Above these figures is a ladder-like partition dividing this lower register from an upper register. It consists of alternating diagonals creating triangles between two straight lines above and below. Only part of this divider is depicted. The second rolling, below the uppermost rolling, reveals more of the figures and the ladder-like partition. Half of the suckling couple is represented and the dog nipping at the ewe's tail is seen in whole. It has a stubbed tail and a saddle-bag section of the torso. Again, its facial features are unclear. The register divider is clear and separates the lower figures from one/two figure/s in the upper register. These figures are unclear. The third rolling, the largest of all three rollings, is on the bottom-most section of the object. Again, the dog with the open mouth is present, and here its facial features are distinguishable. [Input: MX12FLP.j] |
2002-10-12 |
fLP |
(continue) The suckling duo is represented in whole and follows, or at least stands behind, a nude, human figure (sex is unidentifiable) facing right with well defined musculature in his/her legs and left buttock. He/she is the largest figure in the seal and his/her body crosses the ladder-like partition to stand in both registers. A mound obscures his/her upper body, possibly to mask a hole in the seal in antiquity. Preceding this human figure are the hindquarters of an animal, presumably the dog as the leg musculature and the dimensions match that of the dog represented in whole in the second rolling. These hindquarters are slightly flattened by thumbprints. The head is missing, so we can only assume that this figure is the same dog represented nipping at the tail of the suckling ewe. Above these figures is the ladder-like partition. On the upper register on the far left side of the rolling, above the head of the dog, are two legs and the head of a goat with a well-defined beard. It follows another animal with a clearly defined belly, decorated so as to indicate a coat of fur or hide. On the right side of the human figure, on the upper register, is the same unintelligible object in the second rolling above the whole dog. The most logical assumption is that this unclear object is the repetition of the goat with the beard as he is depicted above the dog. If this is true, then we have the seal and its asymmetrical iconography in its entirety. [Input: MX12FLP.j] |