Seals and Seal Impressions from the Nimrud Excavations, 1955–58

Extract

This is the second catalogue of seals and seal impressions found during the excavations of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq at Nimrud. The first instalment was published in Iraq XVII, Pt. 2, pp. 1955.

In the last catalogue some seals were dated according to certain preliminary archaeological conclusions, which have since required modification. It is now clear that the destruction level in the North West Palace, the Town Wall Houses, Ezida, and the Burnt Palace was that of the final destruction of 614–612 B.C. (Mallowan, Iraq XIX, Pt. 1 p. 20 and XVIII, Pt. 1, p. 17). Fort Shalmaneser has provided evidence of two destructions within a year or so of each other (Iraq XXIII, Pt. 1, p. 9 ff.). Thus the context of ND. 2151 (Iraq XVII, Pt. 1, p. 100) and ND. 807 (op. cit., p. 111) is not the reign of Sargon, but that of Sin-šar-iškun; however that may be, the objects themselves may be much older than the destruction level in which they were found. It is clear that seals were preserved a long time. The seal of the god Aššur on the Esarhaddon Vassal Treaties (Wiseman, Iraq XX, Pt. 1, pp. 17 ff.) dates to the Old Assyrian period, a thousand years earlier.