Third Dynasty of Ur, about 2100 BC, from Babylon, southern Iraq [3]

Length: 5.28 cm Diameter: 2.87 cm

Obtained at Babylon some time before 1820 by John Hine and presented to the British Museum by C.D. Cobham by 1880

British Museum, ME 89126, Room 56, Early Mesopotamia, case 20

This seal is typical of the last century of the third and of the early second millennium BC. The scene depicts Hashhamer being led by a lamma, before the seated king, and another lamma follows. The king is probably bestowing the governorship on Hashhamer. The accompanying inscription translates:

"Ur-Nammu, the mighty hero, king of Ur; Ḫašḫamer, patesi of Iškun-Sin, his servant."

• D. Collon, First impressions: cylinder seals in the Ancient Near East (London, The British Museum Press, 1987), fig. 532
• D. Collon, Catalogue of the Western Asiatic seals in the British Museum: cylinder seals II, Akkadian - post-Akkadian - Ur III periods (London, 1982), no. 469