Date

Early Dynastic III, 3000-2340 B.C. [--Wiseman.]

Origin
The Ancient World : The Middle East : Pre-Sargonid Period

Description
Upper register, two seated male figures drinking (soma?) from vessel through long tubes; lower register, pattern formed by outspread wings of birds.

Wiseman writes, "The commonest religious scene is the ritual banquet, a theme known from votive temple plaques and the 'Mosaic Standard' from the 'Royal' graves at Ur, dated to the end of the Early Dynastic period. One or more of the participants wearing the woolen fringed skirt or kaunakes drink beer through long pipes from a large vessel placed on the ground."

Object
Seal (cylinder; impression; lapis lazuli).

Style or School

Sumerian.

Material or Technique
Glyptic.

Provenance
Found at Ur (U 18983).

Repository or Site
London: Mus., British; No. 123570.

Image Sources
from Wiseman.* [JF 1261]

References
*Wiseman, D.J., Cylinder (1959), p.25; pl.24.
Woolley, C.L., Art (1961), p.60; fig.13.