This book is an excellent resource for both the student and the scholar researching seals and sealings in the ancient world. It demonstrates the applicability of varied methods and methodologies to the study of seals and sealings, proving that both traditional and nontraditional means of analysis are useful in advancing knowledge about this subfield of archaeology. The chapters in this book are both well written—clearly stating the scholars' research questions, methods, results, and conclusions—and well informed, indicating the high level of the scholars' expertise in their particular focus area. This book is not without its faults; however, it successfully engages the reader and is an important contribution to seal and sealing studies.The volume is an edited collection of papers on this topic from diverse regions in the Old World. The introduction clearly delineates the layout of the book and its emphasis on varied approaches to the study of seals and sealings. The chapters, written by both emerging and established scholars in seal and sealing studies, describe varied approaches to interpretation and provide up-to-date research on specific topics. The book is organized into four sections by geographical region: the ancient Near East and Cyprus, South Asia and the Gulf Region, Egypt (and Sudan), and the Aegean. Every section has five or six chapters, each of which focuses on a particular period and research question within its region. Nonetheless, certain common themes can be determined within each section. Papers included in the ancient Near East and Cyprus section concentrate on the role of seal glyptic in administration and on how seal glyptic can be used to gain insight into social and gender identity, power and authority, and practice. Iconography is discussed at great length in the section on South Asia and the Gulf. Scholars explore how culture is constructed through repeated exposure to seal imagery and how social identity is crafted in the production of seals. Contributions to the Egypt (and Sudan) section highlight the role of seals, sealings, and glyptic in administration and the practices employed to use and produce them. Papers in the Aegean section pay particular attention to the purpose and function of seals as well as to how seals have been perceived by both ancient and modern people. Crossing the four sections, articles in the book explain how seals and sealings were used throughout the Old World in both similar and dissimilar ways, and explicate how various methods and methodologies can be used for the analysis and interpretation of such systems to better understand the cultures in which they are embedded.The organizational approach the editors use successfully facilitates specialist research and highlights the connectivity in methods and methodologies across diversity in regions. Similarities in topic, method, or methodology tie different papers from different sections together in thematic arcs that span the entirety of the book and weave together its disparate parts.Seal imagery is one such theme: it is the most researched and discussed characteristic of seals and sealings in this book, and the scholars' rigorous and critical studies of it create both a deep and a broad understanding of its role and influence in ancient culture. Joanna S. Smith (Ch. 7) examines the process of creating individual authority through seal recarving using examples and texts documenting this procedure from across the eastern Mediterranean. Her work demonstrates the importance of analyzing glyptic within its context and contributes to the scholarly discussion on the interplay between art and power. Marta Ameri (Ch. 9) employs art-historical methods and narrative models to analyze the Harappan imagery found on seals, sealings, and tablets excavated at sites in the Indus Valley within the context of Harappan, rather than Hindu, tradition. Through her use of diverse analytical techniques and her focus on the original context, she develops an informed theory on the cultural narrative underlying the mythological scenes depicted in Harappan iconography. Maria Anastasiadou (Ch. 20) analyzes glyptic from two seals, excavated in contexts apparently separated by nearly 1,000 years, in order to explore the cultural influence of Minoan civilization on later periods. Her work demonstrates a detail-oriented and classic, art-historical approach to the study of these objects and reminds readers of the usefulness of traditional analytical methods.Administration is another theme covered well in this book, particularly in the section on Egypt (and Sudan) where discussions of organization and structure are found in each paper. Stuart T. Smith (Ch. 17) explores the development of sealing practices from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom in Egypt and Sudan. His work beneficially highlights some problems with studying seals and sealings, and it demonstrates the complexities involved in the administrative process as it evolves over an extended period of time. Daphna Ben-Tor (Ch. 16) presents a study of scarab seals from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom and concludes that many scarabs functioned as tools for the central administration rather than as amulets for personal protection. Sarah J. Scott (Ch. 3) examines seal glyptic relative to developments in script within the context of administration and determines that the meaning of glyptic symbols changed with the advent of proto-writing. Her work approaches the study of accounting systems from a more comprehensive perspective and advances a more complex idea on the use of imagery in ancient cultures.In addition to seal imagery and administration, identity, broadly speaking, is a third theme examined by a significant number of the book's contributors. Andrew McCarthy (Ch. 4) uses gender method and theory to analyze glyptic on seals excavated at sites in northern Mesopotamia dated to the third millennium BCE. His unique approach demonstrates the applicability of diverse methods and methodologies to the study of seals and sealings, and highlights the importance of understanding gender norms within a cultural context, which allows him to discuss the role of women in bureaucracy from a more complex perspective. Adam S. Green (Ch. 11) combines experimental replication with micro-topographic analysis to develop a new approach to studying the relationship between the production of seal glyptic and the production of seal crafters' social identities in the Indus Valley. His highly innovative work successfully shows how to use both technology and theory to craft a viable method of study. Ilona Regulski (Ch. 14) uses differences in sealing type and glyptic to highlight and define the identity of local sealing systems and to explore the relationship between local and central administrations in Early Dynastic Egypt. Her work advances knowledge of the character of local systems and exemplifies how informed and innovative thinking adds greater substance to discussions on administration of seals and sealings.The papers in each section of the book are well researched and original, and the information they contain greatly contributes to scholarly knowledge. The combination of studies from across regions is what elevates this book from good to excellent. The variety of perspectives enables the reader to develop a strong sense of how these objects are, and can be, studied and interpreted across the subdiscipline. It encourages new approaches, and it demonstrates the application of these approaches to greatly increase knowledge about seals, sealings, glyptic, and the cultures in which they were used.The thematic narrative of this volume makes it a significant addition to any researcher's library. The excellent writing and solid analysis make it a foundational source for scholarly research on this topic. While the authors' expository styles vary, they clearly state their research aims, analytical methods, and results in their chapters. They also often suggest further avenues of research, which is inspiring to students and other newcomers to the field.There were two items that could have improved the volume. First, I find the lack of definitions of key terms or concepts to be an unfortunate oversight. Written considerations of key concepts are crucial because they provide the analyst with an accurate and informed perspective with which to approach their materials. In particular, a discussion of administration is necessary because the term is used so frequently within the literature. Scholars must recognize that the modern and ancient concepts of administration differ, and they must define the extent to which ancient administrations were shaped by the contexts in which they were created and employed.Moreover, sealings were not examined as objects to the extent I believe they should have been addressed. The book title includes both seals and sealings; however, only three studies rigorously analyze sealings and critically discuss their potential: Yelena Z. Rakic (Ch. 6) analyzes sealing type in conjunction with image type in order to expound on the advancement of the administrative communication processes. Her work demonstrates the complex nature of the ancient Akkadian sealing system and its relation to developments in both economy and culture. Ilona Regulski (Ch. 14) analyzes diversity in sealing practice from the late Predynastic through Early Dynastic period in ancient Egypt. Her study indicates that practice varied and developed within the context of emerging administrative systems centered on both state and local governments. John G. Younger (Ch. 19) also examines the relationship between sealing type and image, but within the context of an emerging bureaucracy. He discusses specific administrative roles in their contexts by correlating particular images with sealing types and determining what objects individual administrators sealed.These relatively few chapters on sealings highlight a subdiscipline-wide problem: despite the efforts of several well-respected scholars (e.g., Ferioli, Fiandra, Engel), sealings are still understudied compared to seals and glyptic. Sealings need to be described and published in detail because their impressions, shapes, and materials are important to the overall interpretation of the object, its image, and its role in the ancient sealing system. The depth and breadth of the relationship among a sealing, a seal, and its imagery cannot be completely understood or used to interpret a culture until a sealing is recognized, studied, and published as an object in its own right. More studies of this sort would shed further light on the role of sealings as objects themselves, rather than merely as vehicles for transmitting words or other information. Such studies could teach us the practices employed to produce and operate sealings as objects; they could also illustrate to what extent sealings controlled the construction of culture.Despite these two concerns, Seals and Sealings in the Ancient World fulfills its promise of presenting well-written and well-informed research on the topic from various regions in the Old World. Together, the chapters demonstrate how a multiplicity of methods from a variety of disciplines can be used to analyze and interpret seals, sealings, and their glyptic, as well as recognize the varieties of methods and methodologies used by specialists studying other regions. This book should be in the libraries of experts, emerging researchers, and anyone aspiring to become a scholar of seals and sealings in the ancient world.