Ancient Near East, Jemdet Nasr (Iraq), ca. 3100 to 2900 BCE. A rare double-sided stamp seal bead, rectangular in form, carved using drilling and string cutting from a piece of creamy, pale brown, opaque stone, pierced vertically for suspension. One side has a highly abstract representation of two anthropomorphic figures standing side by side, with quadrupeds to their sides and below their feet. The other appears to show an eye or sun above an altar. Jemdet Nasr, in ancient southern Mesopotamia (modern central Iraq), is a tell site consisting of two mounds. The Jemdet Nasr period, which is the earliest known from the site, only made use of one mound, which had a large mudbrick building built atop it. The site is famous for its early, proto-cuneiform tablets. Size: 0.3" W x 0.4" H (0.8 cm x 1 cm); 2.3" H (5.8 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Zaveloff collection, Lakewood, New Jersey, USA, acquired from Venus Gallery, Israel, in 2002

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#155640

The surface is lightly abraded with some tiny chips and scratches, but the motifs are generally clear and easy to see on both sides. Accompanied by two clay rollouts on custom stand.