Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/268

 250 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud.^a. Fig. 382. — Cylinder, drawn out lengthwise. By St. Elme Gautier. round, is of frequent occurrence in the valley of the Euphrates.^ The whole subject represents an adoration scene, interspersed with strange figures of winged genii, having birds' heads. Their gracility brings to the mind the Egyptian mode of procedure. Fig. 382 shows the same cylinder en- larged.^ The four-sided seal, conical in shape (Fig. 2,8 2,), reported to come from Asia Minor, calls for special mention, in that the subject is sufficiently simple to justify the Cappadocian origin which is claimed for it. Fig. 384 shows the same cylinder, its four faces drawn out. In the first com- partment or face are two bulls, with a tree interposing between them ; in the second is a lion, then a stag, and finally a horse. The tip-tilted shoes of the two figures standing on the horse and the stag are distinctly seen. In the field are stars and an emblem which bears a far-off likeness to the symbol at Boghaz-Keui, formerly held by us to be a mandragora. We are somewhat perplexed in assigning a proper place to the next cylinder (Fig. 385), enlarged in Fig. 386 to show the animals which occupy the lower portion, but which no imagina- tion, however vivid, can connect with alphabe- tical signs. It is self- evident that they were introduced in the com- position to fill a bare corner, as in sundry Chaldaean cylinders.^ The chief part of Fig. 383.— Four-faced Seal. Hemat. St. Elme Gautier. Fig. 384. — Showing four sides of Seal. St. Elme Gautier. ^ Bt'sf. of Art ^ torn. ii. Fig. 17 ; M^nant, Fierres gravees, i. pp. 111-120. 2 Similarly on a Chaldaean cylinder (Lajard, Cu/te de Mithra, Plate XXXVI. Fig. 13) will be found slender-winged figures, with a human body, ending in a goat's head. ^ Menant, Pierres, etc., i. Fig. 114.