Cylinder Seal from Historical and Local Lore Museum of Jalilabad (Azerbaijan Republic)

Abstract

The paper describes a cylinder seal from the exposition of Historical and Local Lore Museum (Inv. № 4240) of Jalilabad (the Azerbaijan Republic). The seal was made from paste with a carved ornament. The color of the item is white. The dimensions are as follows: height – 3.2 cm, width – 0.9 cm. The artifact was found near the Adnaly village and probably was recovered from a destroyed burial. The seal imprint depicts a hunting scene. The seal from the Adnaly belongs to the Common Mitannian Style of cylinder seals. The artifact probably dates back to the first third of the 1st Millennium BC. The counterparts of the Adnaly seal can be synchronically traced in the territory of the Near East. Particularly, a similar plot composition to the Adnaly seal is featured on the imprints/seals from Hasanlu IVB (the “Local” style of cylinder seals) from the territory of Iran, and from Nimrud, Ashur (Iraq), Alalakh (Turkey), and on a seal from the Marcopoli collection (probably found in Iraq). The cylinder seal from Adnaly is indicative of contacts of the local population of south of Azerbaijan with the cultural centers of the Near East in the Late Bronze – Early Iron Ages.

Keywords

• archaeology
• azerbaijan
• jalilabad district
• near east
• cylinder seals
• late bronze – early iron ages