Usually they fight against the attacking feline, but they can also struggle with the
quadrupeds. The composition of the contest scenes, which was originally horizontal,
gradually became more and more upright with the struggling figures crossing over each
other. These scenes become very difficult to unravel visually. The element of combat
is lost in what becomes an unbroken band of overlapping figures, each virtually
indistinguishable from the other (Figure 16. 14 ). The literal quality of the earliest
cylinders has now been completely lost, replaced by a single pattern that must have
always carried the same meaning, as the mark of an authorized official. While known
throughout the region, this phase is called the Fara Style, because the most distinctive
examples come from the site of Fara (Martin 1988 ). It is at this time that the very first
seals begin to be inscribed with personal names that can be read, often inserted rather
haphazardly between contesting figures.
The contest scene continues to evolve stylistically during the historic phase of the
ED III period. By this time, personal names, and occasionally titles or patronymics, are
incorporated into the compositions, now in spaces that are especially reserved for the
signs. In the Royal Cemetery of Ur, seals and impressions that carry the names of rulers
were found. And in the trash levels that lay over the Royal Tombs are the impressions
of the later kings of the First Dynasty of Ur Mes.anne.padda (Figure 16. 15 ) and
A.anne.padda. The end of the ED IIIb sequence is known through impressions of the
kings of the First Dynasty of Lagash: Enmetena, Lugalanda, and his wife, Barnamtara.
Throughout, the elements of the contest scenes remain the same, while small details
of carving, the treatment of the animals’ manes and tails, the degree of overlapping, and
the increasing legibility of the inscription allow us to describe a clear stylistic evolution
for the last stage of this period (Boehmer 1969 ; Hansen 1987 ).
While the contest scene is the most frequently occurring scene, and is the one
associated most closely through inscriptions and archaeological context with males
connected with the court, other themes are almost as important in the ED period. In
the Royal Cemetery especially, the scene of a banquet showing two facing participants
sipping beer through a straw and often in the company of musicians or other secondary
participants is prominent (Selz 1983 ). Queen Pu Abi, laid to rest in Royal Grave 800
–– Seals and sealings in the Sumerian world ––Figure 16.14Drawing of an ancient impression of a cylinder seal from Fara.
Early Dynastic II (after Martin 1988 : 391 )