Stamp seal
Unknown Artist
ca. mid-4th century CE
Medium
Garnet, almandine
Dimensions
0.47 x 0.24 x 0.55 in. (1.19 x 0.61 x 1.4 cm)
Classification
Stone-Stamp Seals-Inscribed
Culture & Period
Sasanian · Sasanian
Department
Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of John Taylor Johnston, 1881
Accession Number
81.6.281
Tags
About this artwork
This small garnet stamp seal from mid-fourth-century Sasanian Iran or Mesopotamia exemplifies the sophisticated gem engraving that flourished under the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). Carved from almandine garnet, a deep red semi-precious stone prized for its hardness and rich color, the seal measures less than an inch in all dimensions yet features intricate intaglio carving. Sasanian seals typically depicted royal imagery, Zoroastrian religious symbols, animals, or supernatural beings, executed ...