Cylinder seal and its imprint
Alabaster and plaster
2400 BC

A person wearing a short skirt places one foot on a stylized mountain and extends his left hand to a figure with two faces representing Isimud, the vizier of the Sumerian god Enki (Ea in Akkadian), who is shown seated to the right of the scene. Between the god and his vizier is what appears to be an altar with a plant above it. Enki was the god of sweet underground water (Abzu); he was associated with wisdom, magic, incantations, crafts and the arts. He was often represented with a long beard and dressed in tufted robes, receiving worshippers or devotees bearing offerings.
The cuneiform inscription reads as follows: “My god is just (name of
the person) scribe.”


Tell Hariri, ancient Mari
3 x 1.6 cm (seal)
National Museum, Damascus M 3951
Sceaux-cylindres de Syrie 25

_{© Musée de la civilisation, 1999}