Stamp seal (scaraboid) with deity (?)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This stamp seal is made of banded brown and white agate. The image, as shown in the modern impression, shows a figure seated on a high-backed chair holding a bowl. The figure wears a long robe and appears to be beardless, suggesting this is a rare image of a Persian woman. An object in front of her may be an incense burner, fire altar or table. Drinking scenes appear on a handful of Achaemenid seals and seal impressions. Their appeal likely derives from the high status they imply, since elite Persians would be invited to dine with the king. The figure on this seal sits in high-backed chair that closely resembles the Persian king’s throne as depicted on the Apadana at Persepolis, further insinuating a royal connection.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art cares for approximately 7,000 works ranging in date from the eighth millennium B.C. through the centuries just beyond the emergence of Islam in the seventh century A.D. Objects in the collection were created by people in the area that today comprises Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Yemen, and Central Asia. From the art of some of the world's first cities to that of great empires, the department's holdings illustrate the beauty and craftsmanship as well as the profound interconnections, cultural and religious diversity, and lasting legacies that characterize the ancient art of this vast region.

Metropolitan Museum of Art