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Sealing with the Priest-King Fighting Enemies with a Bow
Unknown · Susa II period, c. 3800-3100 BC
Two broken lumps of clay carry incomplete impressions of the same cylinder seal, and together they let you reconstruct a full scene from the dawn of urban life. On the left a man stands facing right, his hair in a chignon held by a thin headband, with a full beard and a bell-shaped skirt reaching his knees. He draws a bow towards three enemies already pierced by arrows: one half seated, pulling at an arrow in his thigh; one shot through the belly; one crawling away with an arrow in his back. On the right stands a temple on a terrace, its walls marked by niches, pilasters and a cornice.
The archer is the figure scholars call the priest-king, the earliest recognisable ruler type in Near Eastern art, known from the Uruk period in Mesopotamia and at Susa around 3300 before our era. His hairstyle, beard and skirt are his uniform, and here he appears as a warrior defending or attacking a sanctuary. Sealings like this closed jars, baskets and storeroom doors, so the image was a mark of authority stamped on goods. The fragments were excavated at Susa and came to the Louvre through the French mission's partage.
Did You Know? The three victims are shown at three different stages of falling, which makes this tiny seal one of the earliest attempts at narrative sequence in art.
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