The long life of a royal seal and the Nuzi bullae in the Harvard Semitic Museum
The long life of a royal seal and the Nuzi bullae in the Harvard Semitic Museum

Author(s): Marta Luciani
Subject(s): Archaeology, Ancient World
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Nuzi; glyptic; eastern Iraq; Late Bronze Age; Mitanni; Harvard Semitic Museum
Summary/Abstract: The study of several unpublished bullae from the 1920s–1930sexcavation at Yorgan Tepe, ancient Nuzi, stored in the Harvard SemiticMuseum, sheds light onto the administrative practices of the localelite in the last phases of the city’s existence. Through comparisonswith the cuneiform record, I propose to identify a specific memberof the royal family as the user/owner of the cylinder seal presentedhere. Iconographic and stylistic contextualization lead me to appraisethe history, administrative connections and possibly even politicalambitions of this likely member of the Nuzi ruling house. Bylooking at motifs and traditions of themes, I offer a contributionto the present discourse on Hurrian culture, identity and power asevidenced by glyptic art.

• Details
• Contents