Cuneiform exploration.

The seal itself is rolled out on a clay tablet, and is (was) used as an official signature at the bottom of documents. True, they were clay documents, but official document’s written in stone non-the-less.

Shown on the signature roll, all of the characters are wearing multiple-horned head-dresses; which means that they are all gods, the male figures are also bearded.

Hunting god (full-face), wears his hair in a long curl down his left side, (reminiscent of those worn by bull-men). The man-god also carries a bow and an arrow over his shoulder, complete with a tassel quiver hanging on his back. The male also wears a split down the middle of a striped skirt, with the right hand side of it being hitched up, (it could also be viewed as an ancient cod piece.)

On the left hand side of the mountain stands a small tree, and to the right next to it is a female form called Ishtar, (full-face on), showing two curls hanging down her face one to either side. The goddess is also armed with weapons, including an axe and a mace rising from her shoulders. She is winged, and is seen holding a bush-like object over the sun-god’s head,

(Which is probably a bunch of dates as his breakfast.)

The sun-god Shamash, (face side on with rays), wears his hair up in a triple bun. He is noted holding a serrated blade, and is also just beginning to emerge from between two square topped mountains.

Ea, (the male water god) also has his hair in a triple bun, and stands to the right: with one foot placed on the right hand side of the mountain, his right hand also stretches out towards an eagle, ..

(Probably the Zu bird who stole the tablets of destiny.)

Streams of water and fish can be seen flowing (*into*) his shoulders, there is also a **couchant bull lying between his legs.

** Couchant means sitting down in that bullish relaxed pose.

Behind Ea, stands his two-faced attendant, the god Usimu, who has a double beard and also has his right hand raised.

All of them are wearing **flouched skirts. Ea, (male water), and Ishtar, (female warrior), also both wear **flouched robes.

** Flouched is the exact word used by the British Museum, where the main context of this article is drawn, (and even they couldn’t expand on its meaning – with a well worded wet foppish return email stating as much), the damp process of divining the word, then saw me extensively drawing on a few more deeper well-springs in my desire to get the fuller pitcher.

** Flouched is now a none existent word in our thoroughly modern society: from my own expansive research, it could be thought of as being layered and flared out, and is described as such as the main attribute of an old hat worn in the barbaric seventeen hundreds, ..
But flouch proper in these enlightened times, is a derogatory term for dirty male genitalia, amongst other things.

The scales of the mountain are continued in a horizontal band all round the lower part of the seal, and it is on this band of land that the figures are standing, and all around them down on the floor level is the boulders and rubble thrown out as the sun-god emerges.

A lion is pacing towards the right, and is openly roaring up at the hunter, and perhaps even at the dawn itself? – And so the action builds to a crashing crescendo.

There is also a terminal two line inscription in a frame that identifies the owner of the seal as Adda, who is formally described as dubsar, or (scribe.)

Unfortunately, the deity armed with a bow and quiver, hasn’t been identified to date with any certainty, but may well represent a hunting god like Nusku.

From reading the relief of the warped story; then I would have to say that it means that the (Godly World), once more greets and feeds the sun-god after his toils of digging through the dark depths of the lower world, creating yet another wondrous dawn on his exit, and they all joyfully meet him emerging: everyone that is, except for the roaring lion, .. (he just looks pissed.)

Never-the-less, it’s an all action relief I think you must agree.

The seal as it stands, (groan), is also slightly concave: height wise, it’s tiny, standing at only (3.9 cm) tall.

Or one and a half inches if you want to be imperial.

Or even (a nail to the thumb joint, plus a half for its full length), over all – it’s just a bit bigger than a reel of cotton, if that is – you want to be practical in its description.

Even I have to say that it’s really is titchy, which then leads me to my main question, which is: how did they engrave it? – Because the seal dates to about 2,300 BC, and we know for a fact that the Babylonians (**didn’t possess) micro drill bits, or anything else like it for that matter.

** That fact can be prove, because the over paid archeologists haven’t found any, and believe me: they’ve looked.

I can tell you what the above represents, and with 100% certainty on my part, .. (a fun afternoon), with fifteen tabs all open at the same time in my infernal – internal – internet browsing engine.

Thanks for reading, Jessica: Praise be the ORI.

Displaying the minor little kiddies here, who are subservient to the sub-post:-
[ The ADDA Greenstone Cylinder Seal ]
Which is a posting that is technical the official Auntie.

• dharmachakra