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| Item Number: |
3XYKN |
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| Category: |
Near Eastern |
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| Period: |
Mesopotamian |
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| Date: |
c. 3rd-2nd Millennium B.C. |
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| Material: |
Rock Crystal |
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| Length: |
5/8" (1.7cm) |
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| Display Stand: |
Not Applicable |
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| Status: |
Sold |
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| Description: |
Domed-oval in shape, underside incised with a winged bird.
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| Condition: |
A chip in the seal, probably in the making.
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| Keywords: |
Scarab Seals: Around the beginning of the first millennium B.C., Phoenician seal engravers adopted the use of the scarab, an Egyptian symbol of regeneration. In typical Phoenician fashion, the seals were decorated with Egyptian motifs that are juxtaposed out of context, sometimes with non-Egyptian animal subjects. Popular subjects included the birth of Horus and scenes of his mother Isis nursing him as an infant. Winged protective deities and genies were also favorite themes. Iconographically, the seals of the eighth to seventh centuries B.C. have a close dependence on Phoenician carved bowls and ivories. Phoenician scarab seals reached a peak of popularity in the fifth to fourth centuries B.C., when they spread throughout the Mediterranean. The city of Tharros on Sardinia was a major center of production and distribution. By this time, the seals were carved with not only Egyptian themes but also Etruscan and western Greek imagery.
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