A Babylonian carved hematite cylindrical seal

A Babylonian carved hematite cylindrical seal second millenium B.C.

The seal, carved with figures and cuneiform, with later gold lion-form mount; according to an accompanying letter from Horace H. F. Jayne, Director of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, with reference to research by Dr. Leon Legrain, D.D., Sc.D, the curator of the Babylonian section of the museum, and addressed to E. R. F. Johnson, dated January 23rd, 1937, the inscription may read "In the name of the Great God and the private God (name obscure of the Priest)..."

(L: 1 1/8 in. (seal))

Provenance: Property formerly in the Collection of Eldridge Reeves Fenimore Johnson (1899-1986)
Thence by descent in the family.

NOTE: E. R. F. Johnson was a noted explorer, yachtsman and researcher. He was a pioneer in the development of underwater photography and had close ties with the University of Pennsylvania, where a collection of his photographs are preserved.