OLD SYRIAN BLACK STONE CYLINDER SEAL
Ca. 1900-1600 BC.
A nicely carved black stone Levantine cylinder seal. It depicts standing worshipers (upright and inverted), a life tree mounted by an eightpointed star (Ishtar) and a lunar crescent above. The seal is further enhanced by a drilled hole, allowing it to be used as a pendant or to be hung. Studied by PD Dr. habil. Pieter Gert van der Veen, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
Size: L:31.9mm / W:13.1mm ; 9.96g
Provenance: Private London collection of an Ancient Art dealer; Formerly in a central London family collections 1990s; Suggested to be examined by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert FBA (1926-2011), historian, archaeologist, and specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern archaeology, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.; ex. 1970s/early80s UK art market.
Estimate: GBP 150 - 300