Middle Assyrian Glyptic from Tell Billa

Abstract

The general character of the Middle Assyrian glyptic is well understood from the seal-impressions on the archives from Assur, Fakhariyah and Rimah. As a result of the work of Saporetti (1979) there is now a better dating of the Assyrian tablets than was available to the pioneers. Mayer-Opificius (1986) made useful progress on the chronology of the thirteenth century designs, and this has been further elaborated by the present writer (1990). There is at present no good evidence for geographical variations in the Assyrian seals, despite the wide spread of the material. This is in contrast to the chronological situation. The criteria for the thirteenth century are summarised here, but it is unnecessary to repeat the detailed arguments justifying them which are given in my former work. The thirteenth century is divided into three phases corresponding to the reigns of Adad-nirari I (1307–1275 B.C.), Shalmaneser I (1274–45 B.C.) and Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244–08 B.C.). This is partly for convenience and partly as a consequence of the form of Saporetti's book on the eponyms. When speaking of an “Adad-nirari” style I do not, therefore, mean to imply that such seals could not have been made in the adjacent reigns.