Hematite seal

This seal dates to the period known as the Mitannian Empire when much of northern Mesopotamia was under the control of people who spoke a language called Hurrian. In the east of the region lay the state of Assyria on the River Tigris. The design on the seal has a strong Assyrian influence. It depicts the goddess Lamma, a worshipper and a griffin demon together with hero figures. The heroes have hair with six curls according to a tradition which had been established a thousand years earlier.An interesting technical feature of this seal is the extensive use of the tubular drill to produce the small circles.