Stone cast cylinder seal , 55 x 35 mm (2.2 x 1.2") with terracotta impression tablet & description

Replica of an old Persian seal fashioned around 500 BC during the rise of the Archaemenid Empire. Under the Persians the art and quality of engraved seals experienced a brief renaissance and the empire’s craftsmen produced some of the finest and most beautiful pieces in the three thousand year history of the cylinder seal.

The seal depicts a unique Persian rendition of the well-known Egyptian Benu Bird, proto-type of the Greek Phoenix and a symbol closely linked to the sun and rebirth. A very ancient image, it represents the sun god's regeneration following the mythic War of the Gods.

The Benu is seen to be standing on a smaller, older bird, emphasizing the sun’s Phoenix-like resurrection as "son of the Sun." The risen Benu Bird oversees a peaceful earthly domain, beautifully exemplified by foal suckling mare. Overhead the classic solar winged disk the Persians named “Ahura-Mazda” fills center sky. The seal includes two glyphs, likely initials of its former owner.

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