God with spiked helmet facing goddess with square miter

between 1650 B.C. and 1350 B.C.
hematite
25 x 13 mm
Morgan Seal 966
Provenance: 
Acquired by Pierpont Morgan sometime between 1885 and 1908.
Notes: 

"Seal 966 portrays two gods clad like the weather god of 964, but each has a mantle hanging from his shoulders, and the one at the left has a long fringe on his skirt. Each of these gods holds a spear. The one at the right also grasps an object that may be a bow; a presumably similar object in the hand of the god at the left has been obliterated by a crack in the seal. The latter deity also carries a curved weapon. The weapons of these gods all appear in different other seals as appurtenances of the weather god--the spear, for example, in Newell 302 and 303 and the curved weapon in Newell 339, while the object that is possibly a bow is curved in much the same manner as the snakelike object held by the weather god in 964. This, as well as the correspondence in attire with the god in 964, indicats that the gods of 966 should be regarded as weather gods. ... 966 and 967 show the fastidious engraving that marks the height of Syrian glyptic ..."--Porada, CANES, p. 129
Cylinder damaged.

Summary: 

God with spiked helmet, holding curved weapon in one hand, bow9?) and spear in other, and facing goddess with square miter who holds vase -- Second god with spiked helemt, holding bow(?) and spear in one hand and facing worshiper -- Star in sky.

Classification: 
Department: