Contest frieze with lion, antelope, and hero with feather crown; bull and lion

between 2340 B.C. and 2150 B.C.
greenish-black serpentine mottled with olive-buff
35.5 x 21 mm
Morgan Seal 171
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"Seals 171 and 172 are placed within this group because they show presumably divine figures in connection with a contest. Therefore the scenes depicted may be in some way related to battles of gods. In 171, a male figure facing the contest group holds an ear of grain or a branch, which is elsewhere the emblem of a deity of vegetation (192). He has the flat cap that, like the feather crown, is usually worn by the probably supernatural heroes of contest friezes but never by human worshipers. He may therefore be a deity concerned in some manner with the outcome of the contest, despite the fact that he does not wear a horned miter....The awkward composition of 171 and 172 indicates that they are early Akkad seals, whereas the battles of gods depicted in the remaining seals of this group [i.e. 171-177] show the fully developed style of the Akkad period.. Porada, CANES, p. 23

Summary: 

Lion attacking antelope that is held by hero wearing feather crown(?) -- Bull menaced by lion -- Horizontals above mace -- Bearded male figure holding ear of grain or branch.

Place: 
Southern Mesopotamia.
Period: 
Classification: 
Department: