Cylinder Seal
Full-fledged seal originated with Sumerian’s invention of Cylinder seal. Sumerian are famous with inventing character of sphenogram.
The oldest character carved on potsherd appeared at Jamdat Nasr period (2900 B.C. to 2600 B.C.). In contrast to this, one of excavated post-shades which is considered to have existed in the period of Uruk (4000 B.C. to 3100 B.C.) had impression of a cylinder seal. When it comes to these facts, a cylinder seal had already existed before sphenogram was invented by Sumerian.
A cylinder seal is used for sealing to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional wet clay. This type of seal was used to identify the owner of the possessions that a seal was stamped. It is engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both so that various historical information can be read from it.
This cylinder seal was found to be initially used as official seal of shrine in the period of Shumer. One of the noted cylinder seal at Jamdat Nasr period was made out of marble with decorative copper cow statue on its top. A scene that a person considered to priest is feeding flock of sacred sheep around shrine is depicted on its impression.
The earliest cylinder seal impression stamped on a clay was found at stratum of 3600 B.C in the Near East, at the contemporary sites of Susa in south-western Iran and Uruk where is said to be located in southern Mesopotamia. A cylinder seal started to socially take on importance and people used it practically to stamp on a clay for the purpose of sealing documents or a jar with treasure.
After this period, the significance of seal changed gradually from just sealing documents and jar with treasures to identify a owner of those possessions and protect its ownership into clarifying the rights and obligations for letters and contract documents.This custom became widespread rapidly to the various regions of the Mesopotamian states.
Usage of a cylinder seal
The original usage of cylinder seal is to roll an impression on wet clay pasted onto a string knot tied around the mouth of a jar retaining a treasure in it.
seal up jar retaining a treasure by wet clay around its mouth and roll an impression onto a wet cry in order to attest to the ownership. The usage is
- Covering the mouth of a jar with a piece of cloth or leather
- Tying these clothes and leather with a string tightly.
- Covering wet clay around on a tied string and roll an impression onto it.
Likewise, a seal became widespread among citizens to put not only temple treasure but also personal crops, alcohols, perfumes which were valuable in those days in jar. In later years, a cylinder was also used for sealing gate and door. Because its characteristic made it possible to roll the same impression on the object endlessly, it was used to stamp the impression on not just big jar or container but also gate and door to seal up.
A picture that a hero protects livestock from fierce animal is drawn to a cylinder seal impression but seal itself was thought to have a kind of occult power in those days, which means breaking seal was considered as taboo and people believed the person violating this prohibition incurred divine punishment from God. Therefore, people feared to touch sealed jar except for the one they possessed and their possession was protected by people’s awe against the seal power.
In the period of a third dynasty of Uruk, a cylinder seal started to be used in clay documents and many impressions of seals used by king, queen, bureaucrats and tradesman have found recently. Influential area of sphenogram mostly accords with the popularization area of a cylinder seal and it was also used among Hittites and Elam people.
In the middle of 1000 B.C, as recording medium changed from clay tablet to paper made out of papyrus and sheepskin, sphenogram went out of use and a cylinder seal only for imprinting on clay was no longer used.