Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana) / Openwork stamp seals / late 3rd?early 2nd millennium B.C.

Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana)
Openwork stamp seals
late 3rd?early 2nd millennium B.C.
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Creator Nationality: Asian; Central Asian; Bactrian
Creator Name-CRT: Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana)
Title: Openwork stamp seals
View: Principal view
Creation Start Date: 0
Creation End Date: 0
Creation Date: late 3rd?early 2nd millennium B.C.
Creation Place: Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana)
Object Type: Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Materials and Techniques: Copper alloy
Dimensions: 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm)
Description:

Western Central Asia, now known as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and northern Afghanistan, has yielded objects attesting to a highly developed civilization in the late third and early second millennium B.C . Artifacts from the region indicate that there were contacts with Iran to the southwest.

Openwork copper or bronze stamp seals, often called "compartmented" seals, were cast in both geometric and figural patterns in Bactria-Margiana and are distinctive to that region. This copper-alloy example represents a male figure dressed in a short kilt and mountain boots with upturned toes. If his horned headdress is similar in meaning to examples found in Mesopotamia and Iran, the figure may be divine. The arrow-shaped forms emerging from his shoulders and under his arm may represent snakes or lightning bolts.

AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York
ID Number: 1984.4
Credit Line: Purchase, David L. Klein Jr. Memorial Foundation Inc. Gift and Gift of Lester Wolfe, by exchange, 1984
Copyright: Copyright ? 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art . All rights reserved.
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/education/er_photo_lib.asp
AMICA ID: MMA_.1984.4
AMICA Library Year: 2002
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright (c) 2002 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. All Rights Reserved

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