The iconography of Persian royal power included orderly processions of wild animals, such as boars and lions, which the king enjoyed the privilege of hunting. The beasts would be corralled into an enclosed area for the king to show off his hunting skill. As the great palace reliefs depict people of the empire paying homage to the leader—alluding to his control of the political realm—the boars carved on this seal imply his dominion over nature. To a modern eye, the design of the seal evokes the pioneering chronophotographs of Edweard Muybridge (1830–1904).
Ancient cylinder seal with modern impression: Four Rows of Striding Boars. Persia, Achaemenid period, (ca. 550–330 B.C.). Rock crystal, 1 3/16 × 1/2 inches (3 × 1.3 cm). Morgan Seal 836. Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.