Engraved on Stone

Cylinder seals were important instruments in the Ancient Near East, and were used in Mesopotamia from the beginning of the third millennium BCE to the fifth century BCE. Cylinder seals were made from various minerals with different degrees of hardness. They served an economic function, identifying the owner, and also served as amulets. Seal cutters were skilled professionals, and the use of seals which were recut due to a change of ownership or abrasion can be identified, providing information about both seal cutters and seal owners. This volume presents an analysis of 1000 cylinder seals (including 70 that are not yet published) from the Old Babylonian period, including the Isin and Larsa dynasties, and uses this analysis as well as data from written texts of the period to answer questions relating to the seal cutters and the production of the seals: What was the significance of the cylinder seals in this period? What is known about the raw materials - the minerals - from which the seals were made? Where did these materials originate, and what can be deduced about the trade in ready-made cylinder seals? Who were the seal cutters? Were they able to read what they wrote on the seals? Which tools did they use? Is it possible to identify which workshops they worked at? Who were the owners of the seals and what were their positions and professions?