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then, that the tube anil vessel have remained.
In such erotic scenes - and there arc several
among the Gulf seals - as in the drinking scenes
published by Buchanan and in most others of
the later group, the figures interact, though
their meaning can rarely be determined with
any certainty.
While we have seen that some of the forms
were influenced by foreign contacts, the mean­
ing which these designs were infused must have
been quite specific and local. Of the elements
in seals, only the frequent occurrence of an
object identified as a shicld19will be mentioned
here. Only once do I know a shield to be used
on a seal which also shows persons armed with
what could be weapons. Otherwise, it is often
Fig. 8 Circle of heads of goats on a seal from
held by a person who at the same time grasps Bahrain. Writer's photograph, repro­
a tree or is shown in some other action which duced with the kind permission of
is in no way aggressive or in need of the protec­ Geoffrey Bibby (a drawing was published
by Pedcr Mortensen in Kuinl 1970.
tions of a shield. For the shield is a ceremonial
Fig. 8).
emblem used without immediate warlike con-
nation, we have to look beyond the Asiatic main­
land to areas with which the Gulf people could
have been in contact through their maritime
connections. This exemplifies the way in which
we will have to search deeply in the farflung
relations of the Gulf peoples and their own
customs in order to penetrate the world of
thought which is mirrored in their seals.

Fig. 9 Circle pattern of heads of griffins on a
seal impression from Accmhuyuk in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art ; published
by Nimet Ozguc in American Journal of
Fig. 7 Erotic Scene on a seal from Bahrain. Archaeology 72 (1968), PI. 104 : 5. Repro­
Writer's photograph, reproduced with duced here by kind permission of the
the kind permission of Geoffrey Bibby Curator of Ancient Near Eastern Art,
(a drawing was published by Peder Mor­ the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
tensen in Kuml 1970, Fig. 8). York.

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