Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/285

 Gems. 253 material comfort, and the development of social relations, came the desire of every Chaldsean to possess a seal of his own, a signet that should distinguish him from his contemporaries and be his own peculiar property, the permanent symbol of his own person and will. So far as we can tell, none but the lowest classes were without their seals ; these latter when they were parties or wit- nesses to a contract, were contented with impressing their finger- nails on the soft clay. Such marks may be found on more than one terra-cotta document ; they answer to the cross with which our own uneducated classes supply the place of a signature. When the use of the seal became general, efforts were made to add to its convenience. In order to get a good impression it was necessary that the design should be cut on a fairly even and regular surface. The river pebbles were mostly ovoid in form and could easily be made cylindrical by friction, and the latter shape at last because so universal that these little objects are always known as cylinders. These cylinders were long neglected, but within the last few years they have been the subject of some curious researches. 1 They may be studied from two different points of view. We may either give our attention to the inscrip- tions cut upon them and to their general historical significance, or we may endeavour to learn what they may have to teach as to the religious myths and beliefs of Chaldsea. As for us we are interested in them chiefly as works of art. It will be our duty to give some idea of the artistic value of the figures they bear, and to describe the process by which the engraving was carried out. The cylinders are, as a rule, from two to three-fifths of an inch in diameter, and from three quarters of an inch to an inch and a half in length. Some are as much as an inch and three quarters, 1 We have derived most of the information contained in this chapter from the works of M. Menant, who, for many years past has given more study to these cylinders than any other savant. We have found his Essai sur les Pierres gravées de V Asie occidentale of special value, but we have also made use of the various reports he has published in the Archives des Missions, relating to the foreign collections visited by him, and of his papers read before the Académie des Inscriptions. We have, moreover, consulted the following works, not, we hope, without profit : De Gobineau, Catalogue d'une Collection d' 'futailles asiatiques {Revue archéologique, new series, vol. xxvii.) ; E. Soldi, Les Cylindres babyloniens, leur Usage et leur Classifi- cation {ibid. vol. xxviii.) ; and Les Arts méconnus, by the same author (1 vol. 8vo, Leroux, 1881), chapter i., Les Camées et les Pierres gravées.