圆柱体密封和现代印象：恶魔和动物 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	圆柱体密封和现代印象：恶魔和动物
品名（英）	Cylinder seal and modern impression: demons and animals
入馆年号	2008年，2008.27
策展部门	古代近东艺术（Ancient Near Eastern Art）
创作者
创作年份	公元前 1400 - 公元前 1300
创作地区
分类
尺寸	2.8 厘米 (1 1/8 英寸)
介绍（中）	尽管早在公元前七千年，雕刻的石头就被用来在粘土上压印印记，但公元前四千年，可以在粘土上滚动的雕刻圆柱体的发明使得印章设计更加复杂。这些最初在美索不达米亚使用的圆筒形印章，作为所有权或身份的标志。印章要么印在用来关闭罐子、门和篮子的粘土块上，要么印在记录商业或法律交易信息的泥板上。这些印章通常由宝石制成。保护性财产可能归因于材料本身和雕刻图案。印章对古代近东艺术的研究很重要，因为每个时期都有许多印章，因此，印章可以帮助确定时间阶段。通常保存的图像不再存在于任何其他媒介中，它们作为风格和图像的视觉编年史展示了印章的现代印象，从而可以看到整个设计。这枚印章显示了一个复杂的多图形设计。两个恶魔般的狮头生物，被称为米诺斯精灵，面对面。拿着容器的把手，它们似乎站在对峙的狮子的背上，田野里有角动物的头。在它们的上方，在一只跳跃的小山羊和交叉的狮子之间，有翼太阳圆盘上的中央花环旁有着赛罗米诺斯文字的标志。第二组由两个人物组成，他们抓住一头悬挂在他们中间的狮子，一个抓住尾巴，另一个抓住后腿。其中一个人物戴着一顶有疙瘩的帽子，穿着一件带腰带的荷叶边衣服，而另一个则是一个牛头恶魔。走近现场的是一头直立的人头狮。人类和狮子的头也出现了。
介绍（英）	Although engraved stones had been used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay, the invention in the fourth millennium B.C. of carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay allowed the development of more complex seal designs. These cylinder seals, first used in Mesopotamia, served as a mark of ownership or identification. Seals were either impressed on lumps of clay that were used to close jars, doors, and baskets, or they were rolled onto clay tablets that recorded information about commercial or legal transactions. The seals were often made of precious stones. Protective properties may have been ascribed to both the material itself and the carved designs. Seals are important to the study of ancient Near Eastern art because many examples survive from every period and can, therefore, help to define chronological phases. Often preserving imagery no longer extant in any other medium, they serve as a visual chronicle of style and iconography. The modern impression of the seal is shown so that the entire design can be seen. This seal shows an elaborate multifigured design. Two demonic lion-headed creatures, known as Minoan Genii, face one another. Holding vessels by the handle, they appear to stand on the backs of confronted lions, with heads of horned animals in the field. Above them, between a small leaping ibex and crossed lions, signs of the Cypro-Minoan script flank a central rosette over a winged sun disc. A second group is composed of two figures grasping a lion suspended between them, one by the tail and the other by the hind leg. One figure wears a knobbed cap and a belted flounced garment, while the other is a bull-headed demon. Approaching the scene is an upright human-headed lion. A head of a human and of a lion also appear.