What is a cylinder seal in Mesopotamia?
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What is a cylinder seal in Mesopotamia?
Cylinder seals were impression stamps, often quite intricate in design, used throughout Mesopotamia. They were known as kishib in Sumerian and kunukku in Akkadian and were used by everyone, from royals to slaves, in the transaction of business and sending correspondence. They originated in the Late Neolithic Period c.
Where was the famous Mesopotamia seal found?
According to some sources, cylinder seals were invented around 3500 BC in the Near East, at the contemporary sites of Uruk in southern Mesopotamia and slightly later at Susa in south-western Iran during the Proto-Elamite period, and they follow the development of stamp seals in the Halaf culture or slightly earlier.
What were the cylindrical seals used for?
Cylinder seals were employed in marking personal property and in making documents legally binding. Their fashioning and use were adopted by surrounding civilizations, such as those of Egypt and the Indus valley.
What kinds of seals were popular in Mesopotamia?
For 3,000 years cylinder seals were used all over Mesopotamia and wherever Mesopotamian influence was felt. Most were made of stone, whether limestone or semi-precious stones such as carnelian or lapis lazuli.
When did cylinder seals stop being used?
1st millennium B.C.E.
Cylinder seals remained the most popular form of sealing until the 1st millennium B.C.E., when parchment or papyrus gradually replaced clay as the predominant writing material, and stamp seals again became more popular. As the use of seals spread throughout the Near East, individual styles and traditions developed.
What were the various types of seals in Mesopotamia?
There were two different kinds of seals that the Mesopotamian people used. These different types were stamp seals and cylinder seals. Stamp seal were not very popular and were not used nearly as much as the cylinder seals.
How were Sumerian cylinder seals made?
Sumerian Cuneiform Cylinder Seal, Iraq, 3000 BCE Seals were most often made of stone but also sometimes of bone, ivory, faience, glass, metal, wood, or even sun-dried or baked clay. A recessed inscription was carved onto the cylinder, which produced a raised impression when rolled on a clay tablet or envelope.
