NEO-ASSYRIAN STONE CYLINDER SEAL
Ca. 8th-7th century BC.
A reddish-black stone cylinder seal from the Neo-Assyrian period. It portrays two fourwinged heros armed with a scimitar attacking a large bird, perhaps the mythical Anzu-monster, god of thunderstorms. Underneath the bird a human-headed feline sphinx is depicted. Studied by PD Dr. habil. Pieter Gert van der Veen, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
Size: L:31.9mm / W:15.6mm ; 13.14g
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 1500 - 3000