Sasanian Sealstones

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Sasanian Sealstones : an Electronic Cataloging Project

Guitty Azarpay
University of California,
Berkeley
USA
The Department oI Near Easter Studies, the University oI CaliIornia, at Berkeley,
has housed, Ior more than a decade, a unique collection oI some thousand ancient
sealstones. This collection was donated to the University in 1986, by the late Edward
Gans (1887-1991), whose expressed wish was to have the seals cataloged Ior the
beneIit oI the specialists, the student and the general public. The present project,
undertaken by Iaculty and graduate students Irom Near Eastern Studies, seeks to
IulIill that wish by oIIering, as the Iirst volume oI the Gans seal catalog, some 400
specimens Irom the ancient Near East, datable to the Iirst millennium, speciIically
Irom the period oI the Sasanian empire, Irom AD 224-642.

The Sasanian empire was the creation oI the last great Iranian monarchy beIore
the Arab conquest oI Western Asia in the seventh century. The Sasanians are best
remembered Ior their distinctive cultural expressions, and Ior the longevity oI their
more than Iour centuries oI rule. The Sasanian age was a dynamic time oI cultural and
economic revival, when a new Persian ruling house in southwestern Iran, like the
Achaemenid Persians oI a thousand years beIore, extended its dominion over much oI
Western and Central Asia, in territories that stretched Irom Transcaucasia to the Indus.
The Sasanian age was also a time oI intensiIied trade and exchange, when Iran served
as a major gateway to the transcontinental Silk Road that linked the West with China
and the Ear East.

The sealstone is a widespread and prevalent cultural relic oI the Sasanian age,
when it Iunctioned as a guarantee oI a sealed object or document in commercial and
administrative transactions. Archaeological evidence oI the use oI the seal is
preserved in ancient clay impressions Iound on Sasanian written documents and
traded goods. Contracts and goods, were tagged with wet lumps oI clay impressed
with the owner's seal as voucher. The clay tag was originally attached to strings that
once wrapped the letter or covered goods. The clay seal impression was to be broken
and discarded only at the time oI the use oI the sealed article.
Sasanian seals were shaped as stamp seals, in the Iorm oI stones mounted on
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metal rings, stone rings, or as perIorated beads oI various shapes, represented by
domes, ellipsoids and conoids. Sasanian seal shapes diIIer Irom the more ancient Near
Eastern cylinder seals, but they resemble a small group oI ring- bezels oI a type Iound,
among Roman seals oI the third and Iourth centuries.

The pictorial decoration on the Iace oI the Sasanian seal is carved in intaglio, that
is, the carving is depressed below the surIace oI the stone, so as to leave an
impression in relieI. The pictorial composition on the Sasanian seal on the round or
oval Iace oI the sealstone is sometimes surrounded with an ornamental border or an
inscription. The rich and varied motiIs Iound on Sasanian seals, a reIlection oI the
cultural and religious traditions oI Iran and Mesopotamia in Sasanian times, are only
indirectly explained by the inscriptions that sometimes accompany them.
By Iar the largest group oI Sasanian seals are made Irom semi-precious stones,
largely quartzes, such as rock crystal, carnelian, jasper, onyx, and agate. A smaller
number are manuIactured Irom other silicates, such as garnet, lapis lazuli and jadeite,
and Iewer are made Irom bronze and glass.

The decorated Iace oI the majority oI Sasanian seals shows Iigures oI humans,
animals, and plants. Human Iigures are shown singly or in compositions, and as busts
represented Irontally or in proIile. The classiIication oI seals in our catalog is based
on the pictorial theme carved on the seal Iace. Although the notion oI theme may be
devoid oI any particular signiIicance, nevertheless, it is a useIul and eIIective means
Ior a comprehensive classiIication oI all Sasanian seal specimens.

These seals are particularly well suited Ior electronic publication because oI the
limited range oI their shapes and pictorial decoration. Thus the model chosen Ior the
present publication may be readily adopted Ior the documentation oI other Sasanian
seals, and Ior the electronic publication oI other such collections.
`
Each seal in the present catalog is assigned an Inventory Number determined by
the subject matter oI its carved decoration. The Inventory Number has three
components that encode inIormation about the seal's decoration. These are an Arabic
numeral, Iollowed by a letter Irom the alphabet, and then by another Arabic numeral.
The Iirst numeral identiIies large categories or series oI motiIs and pictorial themes.
Eor example, series 10, describes images oI humans, series 30, treats animals, and
series 50 reIers to plants.
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The second component oI the Inventory Number, the letter Irom the alphabet,
identiIies a speciIic motiI within a given series, such as the gender in humans, or the
species oI an animal or a plant. The third and last component oI the Inventory Number,
is another numeral that identiIies the motiI in even greater detail, such as posture and
gesture oI the image. Thus, Ior example, Inventory Number 10.A.l identiIies a human
Iigure, which is Iemale, and is shown in a standing posture, and Inventory Number
40.A.20 reIers to a Iantastic animal, speciIically a winged horse, shown walking to
right..
An early model Ior this glyptic coding system was Iirst devised by Erancoise
Digard et al., in Erance, and published in 1975
. The excessive complexity and

inconsistent graphics oI Digard's pioneering study, Ior which it was sharply criticized,
are explained by that study's broad coverage and by the inadequacies oI computer
technology at the time oI its preparation. Although the computerized study oI ancient
Near Eastern seals was discontinued aIter 1975, a simpliIied version oI its glyptic
coding system was adopted by Rika Gyselen, a Director at the National Center Ior
ScientiIic Research, in Paris, in her hard-cover publications oI several collections oI
Sasanian seals
. The present catalog, which is indebted to Gyselen's glyptic coding

system, will be the Iirst electronic publication oI Sasanian seals. This is made possible
through advances in computer technology and through the use oI digital imaging oI
seal impressions. Catherine Bullock-Demos, our Technical Assistant, is responsible
Ior developing the computer generated graphics as components oI catalog entries.
The database Ior the present volume contains inIormation not only about the
seal's pictorial theme or motiI, but also about its shape, material oI manuIacture,
iconography and inscription. This database has the potential Ior much creative
manipulation oI inIormation, and may be used to provide answers to questions about a
seal's commercial use, its socio-religious signiIicance, its date, and its speciIic
provenance. Eor example, we know that seals oI important Sasanian oIIicials were
made oI the more valuable and attractive stones, such as carnelian or amethyst, which
were Iitted on metal rings. The carved design on these rings generally shows the

E. Digard, et al.. Repertoire analytique des cylindres orientaux I-III, Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, Paris 1975. Some 4,600 cylinder seals from the ancient Near East are used here for the
creation of a glyptic coding system and a database, accompanied with over 4,700 index cards with
hand-drawn illustrations or photographs of seal impressions, and a reel of computer magnetic tape. Eor
a critical review of this work, see E. Porada, "Problems of Method in the Archaeology and Art History
of the Ancient Near East," JAOS 102.3, pp. 501-506.
Philippe Gignoux, Rika Gyselen, Catalogue des sceaux. camees et bulles Sasanides de la Bibliotheque
Nationale et du Musee du Louvre II, Paris 1978; Philippe Gignoux, Rika Gyselen, Sceaux sasanides de
diverses collections privee, Leuven 1982; Rika Gyselen, Catalogue des sceaux, camees et bulles
Sasanides I, Paris 1993.
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proIile bust oI the owner, generally inscribed with his name and title. The database
may thus be tapped Ior inIormation on the correlation between seal type and the
gender, social rank, and religious belieIs oI seal owners. It is hoped that the pool oI
inIormation provided in the present database may be expanded through adoption oI
Rika Gyselen's simpliIied glyptic coding system in Iuture electronic publications oI
other Sasanian seal collections.
We expect to apply the approach adopted in this volume to subsequent electronic
publications oI the remainder oI the Cans seals Irom other regions and time periods.
These are represented by specimens Irom the earlier civilizations oI the ancient Near
East and Egypt, Irom the Graeco-Roman world and Europe and Irom China and the
Ear East, Irom India and Southeast Asia, and Irom the New World.
In conclusion, I wish thank the Iollowing individuals Ior their contributions to
the present project. Dr. Sanjyot Mehendale, oI the Department oI Near Eastern
Studies, at Berkeley, who originally prepared the Inventory Numbers and the glyptic
coding system used in our catalog entries, and Catherine Bullock-Demos, a graduate
student in the same department, who as Technical Assistant to the project, is
responsible Ior the preparation oI digital images oI seals as an integral part oI catalog
entries. I am especially grateIul to ProIessor Lewis Lancaster, director oI the
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative, at Berkeley, Ior his interest and collaboration
toward the realization oI the electronic publication project described in this report.
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Sasanian Sealstones : an Electronic Cataloging Project

. The excessive complexity and

. The present catalog, which is indebted to Gyselen's glyptic coding

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