Cylinder Seal with Human-Headed Griffin Attacking a Horse

Description This seal, depicting a human-headed griffin attacking a horse, has the detailed modeling of musculature characteristic of Middle Assyrian period art. The use of an empty background highlights the drama of the contest and marks a turning point in Assyrian art later expressed on a large scale in carved palace reliefs. The cuneiform inscription records the owner's name: "seal of Silliya."

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
6/04/1968	Treatment	other

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Translation] seal of Silliya

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters