Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Seals : Lentoid seal with lioness attacking bull [Σ-Κ124]

Lentoid seal with lioness attacking bull

Σ-Κ124

Stone (Haematite)

Intact

Diameter: 2.9-3 cm.

Knossos

Monastiriako Kephali

Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan ΙB period.:

1500-1450 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Late Bronze Age - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC). The Knossos monopalatial system

Jewellery, seals and sealings from settlements and cemeteries, Neopalatial and Final Palatial period

Description

Lentoid sealstone with a lioness attacking a bull. Animals being attacked by a lion were a popular theme in the Neopalatial period, depicted on some of the most exquisite seals in the naturalistic style. The production of seals made of semiprecious stones reached its peak in 1600-1450 BC. Functioning simultaneously as symbols of their owner’s identity and as jewellery, seals became prestige objects, indicative of social status. Two shapes gradually predominated, the lentoid and the amygdaloid seal, which were the most suitable for sealing clay administrative documents.

Bibliography:

Platon, N. and I. Pini. Iraklion Arch?ologisches Museum, Teil 3. Die Siegel der Neupalastzeit, Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel II, Berlin, 1984, 208 (no. 173).

Author:

G. F.

Photographs' metadata