Where have all the Ur III seals gone?

Authors

  • Jacob L. Dahl Oxford University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33182/aijls.v3i2.2851

Keywords:

Cylinder Seals, Ur III Period, Old Babylonian period, Re-cut objects, Heirloom objects

Abstract

In this paper I analyse the late 3rd millennium and early 2nd millennium seals in two mid-size collections and reach the conclusion that exceedingly few of them date to the Ur III period (c. 2100 – 2000 BC). I include some observations on other collections. I then ask the basic question: where have all the Ur III seals gone? After briefly exploring other options, I suggest with online visual evidence, that the vast majority of the Ur III seals were re-cut in the Old Babylonian period. At the end of the paper, I suggest that the absence or presence of seals from specific periods can be used to model larger historical trends.

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Published

2024-07-23

How to Cite

Dahl, J. L. (2024) “Where have all the Ur III seals gone?”, Avar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Life and Society in the Ancient Near East . London, UK, 3(2), pp. 195–252. doi: 10.33182/aijls.v3i2.2851.

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