<c id="C0849_c0109" level="file">
  <did>
    <unittitle>Tan Feldspar Cylinder Seal</unittitle>
    <unitid>Garrett 2</unitid>
    <unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/894894</unitid>
    <unitdate calendar="gregorian" datechar="creation" era="ce">Akkadian period (probably fake)</unitdate>
    <physdesc>
      <dimensions id="1bdb7057389c458c981dd2c02ff2362f"/>
    </physdesc>
    <container altrender="scahsvm" encodinganalog="NBox" id="baf6442666c14b97dc48c38480c28f2a" label="Mixed Materials [C0849_n8]" type="box">8</container>
  </did>
  <scopecontent id="43abe8ffdc0cb2ed71452c57def0e7b4">
    <head>Scope and Contents</head>
    <p>Contest scene: two man-headed bulls stand crossed with one another; the further of the two is attacked from the right by a rampant lion, its head shown as if from above; the lion is in turn attacked by a kusarikku. To the left an antelope standing left, its head back, is attacked by a panther which is in turned attacked by a man wearing a long robe who holds an axe in his right hand. The seal is beautifully carved and the style is superficially convincing. A number of details, however, are poorly understood by the seal carver. In particular the man-headed bulls are problematic. Strictly speaking, man-headed bulls do not occur on the seals of the Akkad period. Bison, however, are common on genuine seals throughout that period. Relatively early in the period, the bison is typically shown with its head shown frontally, and bearing almost human features (as on Princeton Art Museum 70-26 and Garrett 3, shown below). Later in the period the bison's head is shown in profile, as on Balken 15. Note that on Garrett 3 the bison has two horns, as we would expect on a bison; but on Garrett 2 they wear an elaborate headdress apparently intended as that worn by gods, featuring multiple tiers of horns, though poorly understood here. The headdress intended by the seal carver was common from the late Akkad period through the Old Babylonian, but it should not appear on a bison. The kusarikku on this seal wears the same headdress; indeed the heads of the bison and of the kusarikku are indistinguishable. The kusarikku may wear such a headdress on seals, but not before the Old Babylonian period (see Pyne 42).</p>
  </scopecontent>
  <bibliography id="8f2052b14fd8f9d1837c22b1fab798d1">
    <head>Bibliography</head>
    <p>Previously published: Ward, Cylinder Seals no. 195, identified there as property of the J. Pierpont Morgan Library.</p>
  </bibliography>
</c>