Contest frieze with heros, bull-men, stag, and lion

ca. 2370 B.C.
bone
16.5 x 10 mm
Morgan Seal 83
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"Seals 80-84 probably originated in the same time [as Seal 78], since the small figures on these seals are in the same style as those on the impression of the seal of Barnamtarra, Lugalanda's wife ... This seal should be assigned to the end of the Early Dynastic period, because the interlocked group of the frieze is broken up into several pairs of contestants, a scheme that is characteristic of seals made at the beginning of the Akkad period. Furthermore, the action of the bull-man, who stands with one foot upon the reversed lion's head while tearing the animal's legs apart, is found in only one other Early Dynastic representation (Ur 45), though it occurs often in seals of the following era." Porada, CANES, p. 13-14

Summary: 

Nude bearded hero crossed with bull-man -- Hero with upturned curls grasping stag -- Lion reversed by bull-man -- Terminal: two small horned animals, one above other.

Place: 
Southern Mesopotamia.
Classification: 
Department: