Seal cylinder; Mesopotamia, northeastern Turkey, 2nd millennium B.C.

Seal cylinder; Mesopotamia, northeastern Turkey, 2nd millennium B.C.
White stone.
The gold-colored area was added after the seal was dated.
Measurements: 5.5 x 3 x 3 cm.
Provenance: Family bequest of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. An archaeological collection assembled beginning in the 1950s by successive generations of the family through purchases at European galleries and auction houses. This piece belonged to the Belga private collection.
This seal cylinder, carved from white stone, features an impression with zoomorphic motifs—specifically, a succession of birds. These graphic motifs are recessed into the seal so that they could be imprinted on clay by rolling the cylinder; this was done using a ring, a handle, or a cord threaded through its drilled axis. The images depicted on cylindrical seals were primarily based on themes—often sociological or religious—thus presenting ideas about society in pictographic and textual form.