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Cylinder seal of hippopotamus ivory

Σ-Κ743
Bone (Hippopotamus tusk)
Mended, good condition.
Height: 3.5 cm. Dimensions of sealing surface: 2.6 x 1.9 cm.
Mochlos
Tomb I/II/III
Early Bronze Age. Prepalatial period, Early Minoan ΙΙ - ΙII period.:
2700 - 2000 BC:
Gallery:
I
Case:
13
Exhibition thematic unit:
Early Bronze Age - Prepalatial period (3000 - 1900 BC). Settlements and cemeteries - the rise of ruling groups
Seals. New objects for new needs
Description
Cylinder seal with the sealing surface at one end of the cylinder. It was broken in antiquity and repaired with a bronze nail, showing that its owner considered it valuable. Found in Room II of Tomb Ι/ΙΙ/ΙΙΙ at Mochlos. It is made of hippopotamus ivory, a material probably imported from Syro-Palestine. Seals signalled the social identity of their owners and their position in the production process. The rare and valuable material of which this seal is made and its relatively large size displayed the owner’s probably high status.
Bibliography:
Platon, N. Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel. Band II.1. Iraklion Arch?ologisches Museum. Die Siegel der Vorpalastzeit, Berlin, 1969, nr. 472. Sbonias, K. Fr?kretische Siegel. Ans?tze f?r eine Interpretation der Sozial-Politische Entiwicklung auf Kreta w?hrend der Fr?bronzezeit. BAR International Series 620. Oxford, 1995, 47-49. Seager, R.B. Explorations in the Island of Mochlos. Boston and New York, 1912, 24, fig. 12:II.41.
Author:
E. S.


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