‡ Stamp seal with quadrupeds, on steatite or chlorite block [Near East, 5th or 4th millennium BC]

‡ Stamp seal with two horned quadrupeds, possibly antelope, each held by a large hand, carved in simple lines, floral zigzag motifs on reverse, on olive-green steatite or chlorite rectangular block [Near East, fifth or fourth millennium BC.] Semi-precious stone, carved in deep relief, with two pierced holes at head (for suspension), some small scuffs, else in excellent condition, 74 by 48 by 15mm. Provenance: 1. From the formidable antiquities collection of Hans Erlenmeyer (1900-1967), and his wife Marie-Louise Erlenmeyer (1912-1997), housed in Basel; this piece acquired in the 1950s. In 1981 Marie-Louise Erlenmeyer founded the Erlenmeyer Foundation to promote animal and species protection.2. Sold on behalf of the foundation at Sotheby's, 12 June 1997, lot 10 (illustrated there); to the current owner;3. Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, their MS 2411/3. Text:Before the invention of cuneiform, the civilisations of Mesopotamia used pictograms: signs representing goods, animals, places, jobs, numbers and administrative processes, rather than an actual alphabet. The depiction of the shapes of many of these 'proto-cuneiform' signs, necessarily stylised through the use of a wedge-shaped reed impressed into clay, subsequently evolved into cuneiform proper. As such they are perhaps the earliest dawn of palaeography, and the beginning of our survey here. Such rectangular or square stamp seals were the forerunner of cylinder seals, and were most probably used to mark ownership of goods through the impressing of their symbols onto clay containers.