The people of ancient Mesopotamia, which is Western Asia (think Iraq), are thought to have created the earliest forms of writing. One of the most common artifacts found from this period is the cylinder seal. These are small, cylinder-shaped objects engraved with designs around their perimeter. They were used, we believe, as a security method, much like the wax stamps that adorned private papers during later periods of history.
Cylinder seals were common for thousands of years in the ancient world (from approximately 3500 BC – 330 BC).
The periods of cylinder seal creation are listed in order below:
Protoliterate Period - 3500-3000 BC
Early Dynastic - 3000-2340 BC
Akkadian - 2340-2180 BC
Ur III - 2180-1800 BC
Old Babylonian - 1800-1600 BC
Peripheral Styles - 1900-1700 BC
Middle Assyrian - 1300-1000 BC
Neo-Assyrian - 1000-612 BC
Neo-Babylonian - 612-539
Achaemenian - 590-330 BC
My blog is about the history of the ancients and I will be describing various cylinder seals as the months go on. If you’re interested in learning more, please feel free to join me.
