Zvenigorodsky seal

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Zvenigorodsky seal
Inarus and possible Greek generals as prisonners, seized by Artaxerxes I.jpg
Photograph of the seal (top), and drawing by Faucher-Gudin of the cylinder’s impression (bottom). [1]
History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria (1903) (14584087089).jpg
Material Chalcedony
Size2.8 cm (1.1 in) x 1.2 cm (0.47 in)
CreatedLate 5th–early 4th century BCE
Present location Hermitage Museum
IdentificationГл-501

The Zvenigorodsky seal, also known as the "Persian king and the defeated enemies", is an Achaemenid cylinder seal made from chalcedony. It is dated to the late 5th to the early 4th century BCE. In 1930, the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg obtained the seal from a private owner in Kerch (inventory number Гл-501). [2] [3] The seal was first documented in 1881 in Compte rendu de la Commission Impériale Archéologique pour l'Année. [4]

Contents

Content

The cylinder depicts an Achaemenid King of Kings subjugating a captive who is wearing a pschent ( an Egyptian double crown). The captive is seen kneeling, held down by the king's hand and in his other hand, a spear. [3] Behind the king there are four prisoners with a rope around their necks, the rope being held by the king. The garments worn by the prisoners are similar to those worn by Egyptian figures in the reliefs of Naqsh-e Rostam. [3] The features suggest the conquest of Ancient Egypt or the suppression of an Egyptian uprising by an Achaemenid king. [3] It is likely the seal depicts a Persian king or hero thrusting his lance into an Egyptian pharaoh, while holding four other captives on a rope. [5] [6] [7]

Identification

Several attempts have been made to identify the main characters on the seal. In 1903, Gaston Maspero suggested that the king is Darius the Great (r. 522–486 BCE) dealing with some rebels. [1] In 1940, Richard Arthur Martin suggested that the two rulers were Artaxerxes I (r. 465–424 BCE) and the defeated Inaros II. [8] In 1979, Muhammad Dandamayev opined the king was Artaxerxes II (r. 405/4–359/8 BCE). [9] In 1992, Shapur Shahbazi suggested, that the king might have been Artaxerxes III (r. 359/8–338 BCE). [10]

Comparisons

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Acc. No. 1999.325.114) holds a similar chalcedony cylinder dated to the 6th - 5th century BCE. Again, the figures are unidentified. [11]

The Moscow Artaxerxes cylinder seal is inscribed in Old Persian cuneiform "I am Artaxerxes the Great King". [12] [13] In this image, the Achaemenid king is shown leading Egyptian captives on a rope, but there is no kneeling figure. [3] [14] The king in this case might be Artaxerxes I who repressed a rebellion in Egypt or Artaxerxes III who reconquered Egypt. [3] However, the more rigid execution of the engraving suggests it may date from the time of Darius the Great. [3]

The Zvenigorodsky seal is most similar to that of Darius the Great, both in the rather rigid treatment of the figures, and in the composition of the seal itself. [3] On these grounds, the manufacture of the Zvenigorodsky seal could be attributed to a period rather close to that of Darius, which would favour an attribution to Artaxerxes I. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 Maspero, Gaston (1903). History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria. Vol. 9. London: The Grolier Society., p. 166
  2. ↑ Cylindrical seal. Persian King and the Defeated Enemies. Hermitage Museum
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Strelkov, Alexander S. (1937). "The Moscow Artaxerxes Cylinder Seal". Bulletin of the American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology. 5 (1): 17–21. JSTOR   44243379.
  4. ↑ Compte rendu de la Commission Impériale Archéologique pour l'Année 1881. 1881. pp. Plate V.
  5. ↑ "a Persian hero slaughtering an Egyptian pharaoh while leading four other Egyptian captives"Hartley, Charles W.; Yazicioğlu, G. Bike; Smith, Adam T. (2012). The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions. Cambridge University Press. p. ix, photograph 4.6. ISBN   9781139789387.
  6. ↑ "Victor, apparently wearing the tall Persian headdress rather than a crown, leads four bareheaded Egyptian captives by a rope tied to his belt. Victor spears a figure wearing Egyptian type crown." in Root, Margaret Cool (1979). The king and kingship in Achaemenid art: essays on the creation of an iconography of empire. Diffusion, E.J. Brill. p. 182. ISBN   9789004039025.
  7. ↑ "Another seal, also from Egypt, shows a Persian king, his left hand grasping an Egyptian with an Egyptian hairdo (pschent), whom he thrusts through with his lance while holding four prisoners with a rope around their necks."Briant, Pierre (2002). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. p. 215. ISBN   9781575061207.
  8. ↑ Martin, Richard Arthur (1940). Ancient seals of the Near East. Chicago: Field Museum Press. p. No. 17.
  9. ↑ Dandamayev, M.A. (1979). Persien unter den ersten Achämeniden (6. Jahrhundert v. Chr.). Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag., pl. XV
  10. ↑ Shahbazi, Shapur (1992). "Clothing II. In the Median and Achaemenid periods", in Encyclopædia Iranica , pl. LV
  11. ↑ Cylinder seal and modern impression: battle scene with king, soldiers, enemy, ca. 6th–5th century B.C.. The Met
  12. ↑ "Moscow Artaxerxes Seal". Pushkin Museum.
  13. ↑ Strelkov, Alexander S. (1937). "The Moscow Artaxerxes Cylinder Seal". Bulletin of the American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology. 5 (1): 17–21. ISSN   2573-6167. JSTOR   44243379.
  14. ↑ Root, Margaret Cool; Frye, Richard N. (1981). "The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art. Essays on the Creation of an Iconography of Empire". American Journal of Archaeology. 85 (2): 228. doi:10.2307/505043. JSTOR   505043.

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