Before the introduction of Cylinder seals, stamp seals were used to seal impression during trade or to mark equipment. Cylinder seals were invented after 3500 BC during the Uruk period. Most people, especially kings, heads of families, rulers, scribes etc. had their own seals, which were used on mud pots when the mud was still wet. Most of the materials of the cylinder seals were precious stones, fired clay, or glazed clay. Various religious scenes, writings, myths, legends, plants of war were carved in reverse so that when the wet mud was placed on it, the scene would come out correctly. The above seal is a Cylinder seal with a battlescene of Enkidu and Gilgamesh fighting a bull, with a smaller scene below, and aninscription in cuneiform. The seal dates to the Sumerian Third early Dynasty around 2600 BC. The seal is carved and made of stone.
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