圆柱印章和现代印象：寺庙正面前的仪式场景 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	圆柱印章和现代印象：寺庙正面前的仪式场景
品名（英）	Cylinder seal and modern impression: ritual scene before a temple facade
入馆年号	1983年，1983.314.1
策展部门	古代近东艺术（Ancient Near Eastern Art）
创作者
创作年份	公元前 3500 - 公元前 3100
创作地区
分类
尺寸	1 9/16 × 1 5/16 × 1 5/16 英寸 (4 × 3.4 × 3.4 厘米)
介绍（中）	尽管早在公元前七千年，雕刻的石头就被用来在粘土上压印印记，但公元前四千年，可以在粘土上滚动的雕刻圆柱体的发明使得印章设计更加复杂。这些最初在美索不达米亚使用的圆筒形印章，作为所有权或身份的标志。印章要么印在用来关闭罐子、门和篮子的粘土块上，要么印在记录商业或法律交易信息的泥板上。这些印章通常由宝石制成。保护性财产可能归因于材料本身和雕刻图案。印章对古代近东艺术的研究很重要，因为每个时期都有许多印章，因此，印章可以帮助确定时间阶段。通常保存的图像不再存在于任何其他媒介中，它们作为风格和图像的视觉编年史展示了印章的现代印象，从而可以看到整个设计。这枚印章上的图像描绘了一个走向一座建筑的游行队伍，该建筑由一个示意性的立面代表。三个裸体人物接近这座建筑。从容器中倒入容器的第一个弯管；第二个，虽然大部分被破坏所掩盖，但直立着；第三个人用紧握的双手举起一个物体——也许是一个容器。在建筑周围的田野中描绘了一只四足动物、两个未识别的矩形形状、一个容器，也许还有一个烧杯，通过其独特的形状和周围的活动将其识别为寺庙。
介绍（英）	Although engraved stones had been used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay, the invention in the fourth millennium B.C. of carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay allowed the development of more complex seal designs. These cylinder seals, first used in Mesopotamia, served as a mark of ownership or identification. Seals were either impressed on lumps of clay that were used to close jars, doors, and baskets, or they were rolled onto clay tablets that recorded information about commercial or legal transactions. The seals were often made of precious stones. Protective properties may have been ascribed to both the material itself and the carved designs. Seals are important to the study of ancient Near Eastern art because many examples survive from every period and can, therefore, help to define chronological phases. Often preserving imagery no longer extant in any other medium, they serve as a visual chronicle of style and iconography. The modern impression of the seal is shown so that the entire design can be seen. The imagery on this seal depicts a procession towards a building represented by a schematic façade. Three nude figures approach the structure. The first bends to pour from a vessel into a container; the second, while mostly obscured by damage, stands upright; and the third raises an object–perhaps a vessel–in his clasped hands. A quadruped, two unidentified rectangular forms, a container, and perhaps a beaker are depicted in the field around the building, identified as a temple by its distinctive form and the activities around it.