Post-Akkadian and Ur III Features on Cylinder Seals from Kültepe-Kanesh: An Iconographic and Stylistic Analysis

Year 2019, Issue: 22, 45 - 67, 11.10.2019

Güzel Öztürk

Abstract

The cylinder seals uncovered at Kültepe-
Kanesh, which date to the last quarter of the
Early Bronze Age, are completely foreign to
Anatolian sealing practices in terms of both
their form and the style of depiction they utilize.
These foreign characteristics point to a
new and important aspect of the cross-border
relations of Anatolia. Cylinder seals, which are
known to have been used for the first time in
the Uruk period from the second half of the
4th millennium BC in the Near East, represent
a lesser known type for Anatolian geography
in the 3rd millennium BC. Examples of cylinder
seals dating to the 3rd millennium BC apart
from Kültepe are known from the excavations
of Troy, Alişar, Gordion, and Seyitömer in the
northern part of the Taurus Mountains and
the inner and western parts of Anatolia. The
Kültepe cylinder seals not only contribute to
our knowledge about the extent of cylinder
seal usage in Anatolia in the 3rd millennium
BC, but also add a new dimension to Anatolian
sealing practices via the stylistic features of
their compositions and the descriptions on
them.

Keywords

Anatolian Sealing Tradion, 3rd Millennium, Kültepe Kanesh, Seals of Post Akkadian and Ur III Period, Cross Border Interactions

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