shaven apart from a forelock, and they can hold a pail, and a libation cup or a frond
- the Babylonian equivalent of the aspergum that is still used today.
Unidentified deities also appear on seals that are based to a greater or lesser degree
on this three-figure presentation scene. Some wear the horned headdress and tiered
(‘flounced’) garments of deities but do not hold an attribute; one particularly popular
figure of this type stands with his hand extended like the sun god, but the knife is
missing (Collon 1986 , p. 25 , pls XXXIV, XXXVI–XXXVII). Several show a god
who wears a distinctive robe with a ladder-pattern down the front (Figure 7. 14 ; Collon
1986 : 27 – 8 , pl. XXXV). It is often difficult to identify the deities depicted on the
seals because it seems that there was a conscious effort to enlist as many deities as
possible in the protection of the owner of the seal and his business transactions. As a
result, the deities invoked in the inscriptions are not generally those depicted, and nor
are they necessarily those whose symbols appear scattered in the field of the design
(see especially Figures 7. 8 and 7. 9 ; Collon 1986 : 22 – 4 ; Braun-Holzinger 1996 ).
The stereotyping and repetition of these scenes make it possible to draw some
conclusions regarding general trends and regional characteristics, and to isolate the
work of different craftsmen. In this respect, the prolific output of the two main
workshops at Sippar, south of Baghdad, is particularly revealing (al-Gailani and
Al-Jadir, n.d.; Buchanan 1970 ; al-Gailani Werr 1980 , 1981 , 1988 ; Van Lerberghe
and Voet 1991 ; Blocher 1992 a, b; Colbow 1995 a, b, 2002 ; Teissier 1998 ). They are
differentiated by the way the tiered garments of deities are depicted, either with
straight lines or with undulating lines, often in deeper relief and in groups (Figure
- 3 a–c). The inscriptions were often written in separate lines between the figures.
— Babylonian seals —Figure 7. 13 The gods Amurru (with crooks) and Adad; robed king with offering; robed god.
Haematite. 2. 35 × 1. 25. BM ANE 89521 ( 1841 - 7 - 26 , 113 ) (Collon 1986 , no. 446 ).