Chapter 20

Fortunately for the study of the early ceramics of Elam, we have not to depend solely on the rather inconclusive data which the excavations at Susa have as yet furnished. Digging has also been carried out at a group of mounds, situated about ninety-three miles to the west of Susa, which form a striking feature on the caravan route to Kermanshah. The central and most important of the mounds is known as the Tepe Mussian, and its name is often employed as a general designation for the group. The excavations conducted there in the winter of 1902-3 have brought to light a series of painted wares, ranging in date from a purely Neolithic period to an age in which metal was already beginning to appear.[35]This wealth of material is valuable for comparison with the very similar pottery from Susa, and has furnished additional data for determining the cultural connections of the earlier inhabitants of the country. The designs upon the finer classes of painted ware, both at Susa and Mussian, are not only geometric in character, but include vegetable and animal forms. Some of the latter have been held to bear a certain likeness to designs which occur upon the later pottery of the predynasticage in Egypt, and it is mainly on the strength of such points of resemblance that M. de Morgan would trace a connection between the early cultures of the two countries.[36]

But quite apart from objections based on the great difference of technique, the absence of any pottery similar to the Egyptian in Babylonia and Northern Syria renders it difficult to accept the suggestion; and it is in other quarters that we may possibly recognize traces of a similar culture to that of the earlier age in Elam. The resemblance between the more geometric designs upon the Elamite pottery and that discovered at Kara-Uyuk in Cappadocia has been pointed out by Professor Sayce;[37]and Mr. Hall has recently compared them in detail with very similar potsherds discovered by the Pumpelly Expedition at Anau in Russian Turkestan,[38]and by Professor Garstang[39]at Sakjegeuzi in Syria.[40]It should be noted that, so far as Elam is concerned, the resemblance applies only to one class of the designs upon the early painted pottery, and does not include the animal and a majority of the vegetable motives. It is sufficiently striking, however, to point the direction in which we may look for further lightupon the problem. Future excavations at Susa itself and on sites in Asia Minor will doubtless show how far we may press the suggested theory of an early cultural connection.

While such suggestions are still in a nebulous state, it would be rash to dogmatize on the relation of these prehistoric peoples to the Elamites of history. A study of the designs upon the Elamite potsherds makes it clear, however, that there was no sudden break between the cultures of the two periods. For many of the animal motives of a more conventionalized character are obviously derived from the peculiarly Elamite forms of composite monsters, which are reproduced in the seal-impressions upon "proto-Elamite" tablets.[41]Moreover, it is stated that among the decorative motives on pot-sherds recently discovered in the lowest stratum at Susa are a number of representations of a purely religious character.[42]It is possible that these will prove to be the ancestors of some of the sacred emblems which, after being developed on Elamite soil, reached Babylonia during the Kassite period.[43]How far Babylonia participated in the prehistoric culture of Elam it is difficult to say, since no Neolithic settlement has yet been identified in Sumer or Akkad. Moreover, the early Sumerian pottery discovered at Tello, which dates from an age when a knowledge of metal was already well advanced, does not appear to have resembled the prehistoric wares of Elam, either in composition or in design. It should be noted, however, that terra-cotta female figurines, of the well-known Babylonian type, occur in Elam and at Anau[44]; and it is possible that in Babylonia they were relics of a prehistoric culture. On sites in the alluvial portion of the country it is probable that few Neolithic remainshave been preserved.[45]But it should be noted that fragments of painted pottery have been found at Kuyunjik, which bear a striking resemblance to the early Syro-Cappadocian ware;[46]and these may well belong to a Neolithic settlement upon the site of Nineveh.[47]It is thus possible that the prehistoric culture, which had its seat in Elam, will be found to have extended to Southern Assyria also, and to non-alluvial sites on the borders of the Babylonian plain.

It would seem that the influence of Sumerian culture during the historic period first began to be felt beyond the limits of Babylonia at the time of the Semitic expansion. The conquest of Syria by Shar-Gani-sharri undoubtedly had important results upon the spread of Babylonian culture. The record, which has been interpreted to mean that he went still further westward and crossed the Mediterranean to Cyprus, is now proved to have been due to the misunderstanding of a later scribe.[48]It is true that some seals have been found in Cyprus, which furnish evidence of Babylonian influence in the island, but they belong to a period considerably later than that of the Akkadian empire. Of these, the one said to have been found in the treasury of the temple at Curium by General di Cesnola refers to the deified Narâm-Sin,[49]but the style of its composition and its technique definitely prove that it is of Syro-Cappadocian workmanship, and does not date from a much earlier period than that of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The most cursory comparison of the seal with the clay-sealings of Narâm-Sin's period, whichhave been found at Tello,[50]will convince any one of this fact. The other, which was found in an early bronze age deposit at Agia Paraskevi with its original gold mounting, may be definitely dated in the period of the First Babylonian Dynasty,[51]and Nudubtum, its original owner, who styles himself a servant of the god Martu (Amurru), may well have been of Syrian or West Semitic origin. Beyond such isolated cylinders, there is, however, no trace of early Babylonian influence in Cyprus.[52]This is hardly compatible with the suggested Semitic occupation during Shar-Gani-sharri's reign; there may well have been a comparatively early trade connection with the island, but nothing more.

Yet the supposed conquest of Cyprus by Shar-Gani-sharri has led to the wildest comparisons between Aegean and Babylonian art. Not content with leaving him in Cyprus, Professor Winckler has dreamed of still further maritime expeditions on his part to Rhodes,Crete, and even to the mainland of Greece itself.[53]There is no warrant for such imaginings, and the archaeologist must be content to follow and not outrun his evidence. Babylonian influence would naturally be stronger in Cyprus than in Crete, but with neither have we evidence of strong or direct contact. There are, however, certain features of Aegean culture which may be traced to a Babylonian source, though some of the suggested comparisons are hardly convincing. The houses at Fâra, for instance, are supplied with a very elaborate system of drainage, and drains and culverts have been found in the pre-Sargonic stratum at Nippur, at Surghul, and at most early Sumerian sites where excavations have been carried out. These have been compared with the system of drainage and sanitation at Knossos.[54]It is true that no other parallel to the Cretan system can be cited in antiquity, but, as a matter of fact, the two systems are not very like, and in any case it would be difficult to trace a path by which so early a connection could have taken place. It has indeed been suggested that both Babylonia and Crete may have inherited elements of some prehistoric culture common to the eastern world, and that what looks like an instance of influence may really be one of common origin.[55]But, as in the case of a few parallels between early Egyptian and Elamite culture, it is far more probable that such isolated points of resemblance are merely due to coincidence.

A far more probable suggestion is that the clay tablet and stilus reached Crete from Babylonia.[56]Previous to its introduction the Minoan hieroglyphs, or pictographs, had been merely engraved on seal-stones, but with the adoption of the new material for writing they were employed for lists, inventories and the like, and these forms became more linear.[57]The factthat the cuneiform system of writing was not introduced along with the tablet, as happened in Anatolia, is sufficient proof that the connection between Babylonia and Crete was indirect. It was doubtless by way of Anatolia that the clay tablet travelled to Crete,[58]for the discoveries at Kara-Uyuk prove that, before the age of Hammurabi, both tablet and cuneiform writing had penetrated westward beyond the Taurus.[59]Through its introduction into Crete the Babylonian tablet may probably be regarded as the direct ancestor of the wax tablet and stilus of the Greeks and Romans.[60]

Unlike the clay tablet, the cylinder-seal never became a characteristic of the Aegean cultural area, where the seal continued to be of the stamp or button-form. A cylinder-seal has indeed been found in a larnax-burial at Palaikastro, on the east coast of Crete; and it is a true cylinder, perforated from end to end, and was intended to be rolled and not stamped upon the clay.[61]The designs upon it are purely Minoan, but the arrangement of the figures, which is quite un-Egyptian in character, is similar to that of the Mesopotamian cylinder.[62]In spite of the rarity of the typeamong Cretan seals, this single example from Palaikastro is suggestive of Babylonian influence, through the Syro-Cappadocian channel by which doubtless the clay tablet reached Crete.

Anatolia thus formed a subsidiary centre for the further spread of Babylonian culture, which had reached it by way of Northern Syria before crossing the Taurus. The importance of the latter district in this connection has been already emphasized by Mr. Hogarth.[63]Every traveller from the coast to the region of the Khâbûr will endorse his description of the vast group of mounds, the deserted sites of ancient cities, which mark the surface of the country. With one or two exceptions these still await the spade of the excavator, and, when their lowest strata shall have yielded their secrets, we shall know far more of the early stages in the spread of Babylonian culture westwards. We have already noted the rôle of Syria as a connecting-link between the civilizations of the Euphrates and the Nile,[64]and it plays an equally important part in linking both of them with the centre of early Hittite culture in Asia Minor. It was by the coastal regions of Syria that the first Semitic immigrants from the south reached the Euphrates, and it was to Syria that the stream of Semitic influence, now impregnated with Sumerian culture, returned. The sea formed a barrier to any further advance in that direction, and so the current parted, and passed southwards into the Syro-Palestinian region and northwards through the Cilician Gates, whence by Hittite channels it penetrated to the western districts of Asia Minor. Here, again, the sea was a barrier to further progress westwards, and the Asiatic coast of the Aegean forms the western limit of Asiatic influence. Until the passing of the Hittite power, no attempts were made by Aegean sea-rovers or immigrants from the mainland of Greece to settle on the western coast of Asia Minor,[65]and it is not therefore surprising that Aegeanculture should show such scanty traces of Babylonian influence.

Of the part which the Sumerians took in originating and moulding the civilization of Babylonia, it is unnecessary to treat at greater length. Perhaps their most important achievement was the invention of cuneiform writing, for this in time was adopted as a common script throughout the east, and became the parent of other systems of the same character. But scarcely less important were their legacies in other spheres of activity. In the arts of sculpture and seal-engraving their own achievements were notable enough, and they inspired the Semitic work of later times. The great code of Hammurabi's laws, which is claimed to have influenced western codes besides having moulded much of the Mosaic legislation, is now definitely known to be of Sumerian origin, and Urukagina's legislative effort was the direct forerunner of Hammurabi's more successful appeal to past tradition. The literature of Babylon and Assyria is based almost throughout on Sumerian originals, and the ancient ritual of the Sumerian cults survived in the later temples of both countries. Already we see Gudea consulting the omens before proceeding to lay the foundations of E-ninnû, and the practice of hepatoscopy may probably be set back into the period of the earliest Sumerian patesis. Sumer, in fact, was the principal source of Babylonian civilization, and a study of its culture supplies a key to many subsequent developments in Western Asia. The inscriptions have already yielded a fairly complete picture of the political evolution of the people, from the village community and city-state to an empire which included the effective control of foreign provinces. The archaeological record is not so complete, but in this direction we may confidently look for further light from future excavation and research.

[1]For discussions of the merits of the theory, in view of the admitted resemblance of certain features in the civilizations of Babylonia and Egypt, see King and Hall, "Egypt and Western Asia," pp. 32 ff., and Sayce, "The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions;" cf. also De Morgan, "Les premières civilisations," pp. 170 ff. The publication of the results obtained by Dr. Reisner's prolonged diggings, supplemented by the more recent work of M. Naville at Abydos, has considerably increased the material on which a more definite decision can be based. I may add that Mr. Hall agrees with me as to the necessity of modifying many points in the theory, in consequence of the additional information that has recently become available for use. It should be noted that in his "Oldest Civilization of Greece," p. 179, n. 1, he had already emphasized the indigenous origin of much of Egyptian culture; cf. also "Egypt and Western Asia," p. 45 f.

[2]As a subsidiary meaning, the word possibly conveys the idea of soldiers armed with dagger and lance; see Maspero, "Bibliothèque Egyptologique," II., pp. 313 ff. On the walls of the temple of Edfu the Mesniu are represented as holding in the left hand a kind of dagger, and in the right a light dart tipped with metal. The important part played by metal in their armament is emphasized by these late representations, as by the name assigned them in the Legend of Edfu. They bore the same relation to their patron deity as the Shemsu-Hor, or "Followers of Horus," bore to him in his other aspect as the son of Isis.

[3]Cf. Newberry, "Annals of Archaeology," pp. 17 ff.

[4]The most striking of these comparisons is that ofAsari, a Sumerian god who was afterwards identified with Marduk, andAsar, the Egyptian god Osiris. For not only is there identity of name-sound, but there is also a resemblance between the Egyptian and Sumerian sign-groups for the names (cf. Sayce, "The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions," p. 119). The resemblance, however, is not quite so close as it is sometimes represented, for the Sumerian signerioruruis invariably employed for "city," a meaning which never attaches toas, the character in the corresponding half of the Egyptian group. To regard the resemblance as other than a coincidence, it is necessary to assume a very close relationship between the early religious ideas of Sumer and Egypt, an assumption that would only be justified by the strongest proofs of connection from the archaeological side.

[5]See Reisner, "The Early Dynastic Cemeteries of Naga-ed-Dêr," Part I., published as Vol. II. of the "University of California Publications," 1908.

[6]Cf. Maciver and Woolley, "Areika," pp. 14 ff. Mr. Maciver also cites the occurrence of a similar black-topped red-ware on sites in Egypt, dated between the Twelfth and Eighteenth Dynasties (op. cit., p. 16).

[7]See Reisner, "Naga-ed-Dêr," I., p. 133 f.

[8]For discussions of the identity of the predynastic emblems with gods of the dynastic period, see Budge, "The Gods of the Egyptians," I., p. 30 f., Foucart, "Comptes rendus," 1905, pp. 262 ff., and Reisner, "Naga-ed-Dêr," p. 125; cf. also Legge, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., pp. 205 ff.

[9]For a reproduction and description of the slate carving, see Legge, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. XXII., pl. vi; cf. also Vol. XXXI., p. 204 f. Whatever view be taken of the ceremonial purpose for which these slates were intended, it is clear that the carving of slate was no new departure in Egypt at this period. Many of the practical slate palettes from Nakâda, on some of which traces have been found of the grinding of malachite and haematite for face-paint (cf. Petrie, "Naqadaand Balias," p. 43), are carved in animal forms. It may be added that the colour-dishes for face or body-paint, which have been found at Fâra, are quite distinct both in form and material from the Egyptian slate palettes. They are of alabaster, with divisions for separate paints, and usually stand on four feet (cf. Andræ, "Mitteil. der Deutsch. Orient-Gesellschaft," No. 17, p. 6); they thus form a closer parallel to the small conical vases of clay or stone, still enclosing paint, which have been found in the lowest stratum of the mound of Susa and belong to the period of its first settlement (cf. De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr.," VI., p. 5).

[10]Cf. Meyer, "Geschichte des Altertums," Bd. I., Hft. II., p. 107 f.

[11]See the plate facing p.138.

[12]See above, pp.26ff.

[13]It is also possible that to represent the contracted position of his corpses was beyond the power of Eannatum's sculptor. Moreover, the employment of a common grave beneath a tumulus upon the field of battle may possibly have been a modified survival of an earlier practice, its retention having been dictated by convenience. Although no instance of its occurrence has been noted during excavations in Babylonia, we find a very similar form of burial employed at Susa during the period of its first settlement. It would appear that the dead were there buried outside the earthern rampart which marked the city-wall, without any special order or direction, and not enclosed by matting, pot, or sarcophagus. The bodies were placed in a common ditch and covered with earth, others being added from time to time beside or above them, so that sometimes four or five layers of skeletons are found super-imposed. That the corpses here were separately interred would seem to follow from the fact that each is accompanied by its own funerary offerings and furniture placed around the head; see De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr." Vol. VII., No. 1 (1909), p. 4 f. It may be added that the Sumerians, like the predynastic and early dynastic Egyptians, did not embalm their dead. The use of oil and honey for this purpose (see King, "Babylonian Religion," p. 49 f.), the latter of which is ascribed to the Babylonians by Herodotus (I., 198), would seem to have been of comparatively late introduction, and suggested by the Egyptian processes of mummification. It is interesting to note that, according to the evidence obtained by M. Naville at Abydos during the season of 1909-10, the contracted form of burial survived in Egypt at least as late as the Sixth Dynasty.

[14]The use of a sun-dried brick made of Nile mud and chopped straw may well have been evolved by the Egyptians themselves. As to the original home of wheat there is little evidence, though it may be noted that traces of cultivated wheat and barley were found in the earliest stratum at Anau in Russian Turkestan; see Pumpelly, "Explorations in Turkestan," p. 39 f.

[15]Negative evidence also points in the same direction. For instance, the extensive use of ivory by the predynastic and dynastic Egyptians is in striking contrast to the fact that not a single object of ivory was found by M. de Sarzec at Tello. With the Sumerians its place was taken by shell; see above, p.78.

[16]Against the view may be cited the gradual discontinuance of the cylinder in Egypt, suggestive of a foreign origin. Comparatively few wooden cylinder-seals have been recovered. The fact that wood and not stone was the favourite material has, however, been deduced from many of the seal-impressions, in which a raised line runs from top to bottom across the signs. This can only have been produced by a split in the wood of which the cylinder was composed; cf. Petrie, "Royal Tombs," I., p. 27, and Newberry, "Scarabs," p. 48. The earliest form of cylinder-seal may well have been a piece of notched reed.

[17]If the land of Punt may be set in Abyssinia and Somaliland, it is possible that it formed a secondary centre of Semitic influence in this region; cf. King and Hall, "Egypt and Western Asia," p. 40.

[18]See Meyer, "Geschichte," Bd. I., Hft. II., pp. 155, 162, 393 f.; and cf. Breasted, "Ancient Records," I., p. 66. According to Schäfer's translation, the forty ships were made of cedar-wood, not loaded with it (see "Ein Bruchstück altägyptischer Annalen," p. 30). But this does not affect the inference drawn from the passage, for the cedar must have been obtained in Lebanon, and the record in any case proves a connection between Egypt and Syria in Sneferu's reign.

[19]See above, pp.197f.,233f.

[20]See Thureau-Dangin, "Recueil de travaux," XIX., p. 187.

[21]See above, p.273f.

[22]See De Morgan, "Recherches archéologiques," published as the first, seventh, and eighth volumes of the "Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse."

[23]The manner in which the Semitic culture of Babylonia persisted in influencing that of Elam in the religious sphere is well illustrated by the bronze votive plaque of Shilkhak-In-Shushinak, recently found at Susa; cf. Gautier, "Rec. de trav.," XXXI., pp. 41 ff. It is termed a "Sit-Shamshi," and probably represented a rite of purification which was performed at sunrise. As its title would seem to imply, the rite had been bodily taken over by the Elamites and incorporated along with its Semitic name into the native ritual.

[24]See above, p.306f.

[25]Cf. Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," IV., pp. 14 ff.

[26]"Textes Élam.-Sémit.," II., pp. 169 ff.

[27]A good example of Elamite sculpture of the earlier period is furnished by the fragment of a bas-relief, published by De Morgan, "Recherches archéologiques," II., pl. i., A; in the treatment of the mythological being, half-man and half-beast, who is holding a sacred tree, it is quite unlike the early work of Sumer or Akkad. That, in spite of Babylonian and Assyrian influence, the Elamite sculptor continued to retain his individuality is clear from such a work as the well-known "bas-relief of a spinning woman," which probably dates from the time of the Sargonids (op. cit., I., pl. ix., p. 159 f.).

[28]The decorated table and bas-relief published in "Recherches," I., pl. xii and xiii are fine examples of casting in bronze. They date from the period of Shutruk-Nakhkhunte, and both in design and technique surpass any bronze casting yet found in Babylonia. The varied ornaments, jewellery, and figurines, fashioned of gold, silver, copper, and precious stones, published in "Rech. arch.," II., pp. 65 ff., pl. xii ff. as "foundation offerings" from the temple of Shushinak at Susa, are beautiful specimens of the finer class of Elamite metalwork; it is difficult to determine their date accurately, but the disorder in which they were found tells against the theory of a single foundation-deposit, and different groups may well belong to different periods.

[29]See Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," III., pp. 57 ff.

[30]See above, p.289. The lapidary forms of the characters are more linear and less ornate than those upon the tablets. But the differences are such as would naturally arise from the use of the harder material, and we may probably assign both classes to about the same period.

[31]See Scheil, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. VI., p. 48.

[32]Cf. Jéquier, in "Recherches archéologiques," III., pp. 7 ff.

[33]See De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr.," VI., p. 8.

[34]For coloured reproductions of Susian wares, see De Morgan, "Recherches archéologiques," I., pl xvii-xxii; cf. also pp. 183 ff.

[35]See Gautier and Lampre, "Fouilles de Moussian," in "Recherches archéologiques," III., pp. 59 ff.

[36]See De Morgan, "Revue de l'École d'Anthropologie," 1907, p. 410 f. Still less convincing parallels are drawn between the early cultures of Crete and Elam by Lagrange in "La Crète ancienne," pp. 80 ff.

[37]See "The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions," p. 47.

[38]See Pumpelly, "Explorations in Turkestan," Vol. II., Schmidt's section on "The Archaeological Excavations," pp. 127 ff.; see further, p.355.

[39]Cf. "The Annals of Archaeology," I., pp. 97 ff.

[40]See Hall, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., pp. 311 ff. He also cites a general resemblance, which these three classes of pottery bear to the geometric designs on wares of the Neolithic period from Boeotia and Thessaly. On the strength of this resemblance Mr. Hall suggests that in Iran and in Northern Greece there may have been two closely related stone-using cultures, of which the former reached the age of metal at a much earlier period than the latter. He would, however, regard it as possible that the Neolithic art of Northern Greece went back to 3000 B.C. or even earlier. According to this view, the geometric and often polychrome ceramics found on prehistoric sites as widely separated as Elam, Transcaspia, Syria, Cappadocia, Cyprus, and Northern Greece would represent a development quite independent from that of the Aegean area, with which the early art of Egypt may possibly be connected. For a description of the pottery of Northern Greece, with figured examples and references to the recent literature, see the Reports of Wace, Droop, and Thompson in "Annals of Archaeology," I., pp. 118 ff. It must be admitted that the suggested resemblance between the early ceramics of Northern Greece and Western Asia is not so striking as that between the separate members of the latter group.

[41]Compare, for example, the animal motives from Mussian pottery, figured in "Recherches archéologiques," III., p. 134 f., Figs. 262-264, with the half-human bull-monsters from "proto-Elamite" seal-impressions in Figs. 22-26, p. 11 f.

[42]See De Morgan, "Rev. d'Assyr.," VI., p. 5.

[43]It is noteworthy that the "Greek cross," which is a very characteristic emblem on Kassite cylinder-seals from Babylonia, and also occurs on the "proto-Elamite" seal-impressions, is already met with as a decorative symbol on the early painted pottery of Susa and Mussian. It is also possible that the spear-headed emblem of the god Marduk was ultimately of Elamite origin; it might well have been transferred to Marduk at the time of the Kassite kings of Babylon.

[44]See below, p.356.

[45]See above, p.2f.

[46]See Myres, "The Early Pot-Fabrics of Asia Minor" in "The Journal of the Anthropological Institute," Vol. XXXIII., p. 379. Prof. Myres would regard them as of Sargonid date, and it is true that some fragments of painted pottery of that period have been found at Kuyunjik. But the latter may be distinguished, both by subject and technique, from those which reproduce characteristics of the Cappadocian ware and are probably very much earlier (cf. Hall, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., p. 313 f., n. 137).

[47]In the course of excavations at Kuyunjik, when sinking shafts into the lowest stratum just above the level of the plain, I came across obsidian implements and beds of ashes, indicating the existence of a Neolithic settlement.

[48]See above, p.234f.

[49]For a reproduction of the seal, see Sayce, "Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. V., p. 442.

[50]For the sealings, see Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., pp. 3 ff. The points of contrast presented by the Cyprus seal may be summarized: (1)The signs employed in the inscription are not of Narâm-Sin's period, but of the time of the First Dynasty. (2)The presence of the Storm-god, the number and nature of the religious emblems, the arrangement of the design dictated by the horror vacui, and the engraving of the seal itself with its undisguised employment of the drill, are all Syro-Cappadocian in character; they are in striking contrast to the beauty of proportion and restrained design of the figures arranged on a plain field by the early Semitic seal-engravers of Akkad. (3)The deification of Narâm-Sin is of course no proof that he was dead (see above, p.251). But it should be noted that on seals of Narâm-Sin's period, which mention the reigning king or a member of his family, the royal name is included in order to indicate a delegation of authority. The text is always couched in the second person, in the form of an address, and the royal name is invariably mentioned first. Had Mâr-Ishtar, the owner of the seal, been a contemporary of Narâm-Sin, the inscription on the seal would have run: "O Narâm-Sin, God of Akkad (orKing of Akkad), Mâr-Ishtar, the (here would follow the title of his office), is thy servant." As a matter of fact, the inscription runs: "Mâr-Ishtar, son of Ilu-bani, servant of the god Narâm-Sin." Here Mâr-Ishtar's name comes first, then that of his father, and lastly that of his patron deity. Narâm-Sin is no longer the living God of Akkad, but is just an ordinary deity, and occupies an ordinary deity's place upon the seal. The survival of his name as that of a god in the period of the Western Semites is paralleled by the occurrence of the name of Bûr-Sin I., King of Ur, as that of a deity in the Moon-god's suite, on a god-list of the seventh century B.C.; see above, p.299.

[51]For a reproduction of the seal, see Bezold, "Zeits. für Keilschrift.," II., pp. 191 ff.; cf. also Myres and Ohnefalsch-Richter, "Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum," pp. 15, 134.

[52]Of the Enkomi cylinder-seals, for example, only two are purely Babylonian (of the First Dynasty), and the others, with the exception of a few rude specimens of native Cypriote workmanship, are Syro-Cappadocian and Hittite importations.

[53]See Winckler, "Die Euphratländer und das Mittelmeer," in "Der Alte Orient," VII., 2 (1905), p. 10.

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