Page 128 - DILMUN 16_Neat

SEALs Fon SAA
Fom an Article from Arabian Archiaeology and Eigrahy

By :

M.A. WOODBU AD H.E.W. CA WFOD,
Londo١n - Bahrain Achaeological Eedition,
stilute of Archaeology, Hniersity College

SEALS AD SEALGS :

The 1991 /2 season at Saar added a further siteen comlete soft stone Dilmun
seals to the eighteen found in the first to seasons. ln addition, to broen eamles,
and one shell seal, ere accessioned. Of erhas een greater interest as the
recoery of 128 fragments of sealings, of hich about % shoed identifiable
imressions. Together ith to imressions recoered in the second season at Saar,
these from the largest corus of sealings non from Bahrain. Many hae
imressions of string on the bac, hile a fe come from the necs of jars, giing us
the first non tetual clues for he good hich ere being bought and sold. The
sealings are made of a fine clay, ith fe inclusions. Samles are currently being
analyed, to determine hether they match any of the clay tyes identified from tihn
seciton analysis of ottery from the site. A the designs identified are of the Dilmun
tye, shoing that they derie from commerce ithin Dilmun rather than from

international trade.

n addition to the stone seals and the sealings, hat seems to be an unusual clay
seal imression as recoered (2126:1, Fig.1). The design from a deely cut seal,

has been imressed onto a hemisherical
button of fine clay. The resulting design, of
four bulls' heads, its. on right, albeit
roducing an inerted, rather than raised
design. The iece might, on the other hand,
be a trial iece testing a ne design. A
similar iece s found at the Barber temle

(Mus. Cat . 14, no. 28).

Fig. 1.: Clay seal imression, 2126:1. The siteen ne seals all sho scenes in
(Scale 2:1) the iDlmun style, and the bacs all sho the
standard attern formed by incised lines ith
four dot and circle moitfs. Fourteen of these
seals deict arious tyes of horned
gaelle-lie animal, ihch is one of the rmost
characterisitc and graceful of the motifs found
at Saar. Some of the animals hae long, set

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