231 - Seal cylinder; Early Babylonian period, ca. 1900 B.C.

Seal cylinder; Early Babylonian period, ca. 1900 B.C. Black hematite. Certificate issued by the Drees Archeo Gallery is attached. The gold-plated area was added after the seal was dated. Measurements: 5.5 x 4 x 4 cm. Provenance: Family bequest of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Archaeological collection assembled beginning in the 1950s by successive generations of the family through acquisitions at European galleries and auction houses. Previously part of a private Belgian collection Seal cylinder made of black hematite featuring figures and an inscription in cuneiform script. The syllabic translation is “Serum, son of Warat-Sin, servant of the goddess Ninsi’Anna.” Ninsi’anna is the Sumerian deity of the planet Venus, venerated as the morning and evening star. Originally female, she sometimes appears as male in later texts under the influence of Semitic theology, where the deities of Venus were generally male. These graphic motifs are engraved into the seal so that they could be imprinted on clay by rolling the cylinder; for this purpose, a ring, a handle, or a cord was threaded through its drilled axis. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates Valley during the time of Hammurabi (18th century B.C.), it began to rise to the status and sophistication of Babylonian society, a status it fully attained in the second half of the second millennium. During late antiquity, numerous objects and instruments of a magical-religious nature were manufactured in this region, related to rituals that sought to control demonic forces. Contemporary texts reveal a conceptual blend that combines elements from the Bible, popular Jewish traditions, Hellenistic esoteric traditions, and Mesopotamian religions, seeking to bring together the most powerful rituals and ideas from each tradition in order to increase the effectiveness of the struggle against the forces of evil spirits.