Contest frieze

between 1894 B.C. and 1595 B.C.
hematite
22.5 x 14.5 mm
Morgan Seal 359
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

Cylinder chipped.
"... while the arrangement of the Old Babylonian contests is similar to that used in the earlier period, the introduction of new figures, especially in 359-369, indicates that such contests had acquired new significance. The new figures include a goat seated upright on a knoll and attacked by a lion or lion-griffin or both, and a man on one knee at the mercy of similar assailants." Porada, CANES, p. 44

Summary: 

Nude bearded hero wrestling with bull-man; goat sitting on knoll, with lion-griffin attacking; man on one knee assailed by lion -- In field: fish; human head; inscription.

Place: 
Southern Mesopotamia.
Classification: 
Department: