Syro-Palestinian stamp seals from the Persian Period (538-332 B.C.): an analysis of their iconographic motifs and inscriptions
Date
1992-12
Authors
Klingbeil, Martin Gerhard
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
In the course of this M.A. thesis, 65 stamp seals (conoids, scaraboids, signet rings and
scarabs) have been collected, described, and analyzed. They stem from legal archaeological
excavations in Syro-Palestine, and have been found in strata and contexts which can clearly be
ascribed to the Persian period.
Methodological questions were addressed, including the following: historical outline of the
Persian period, geographical limitations of the study, archaeological considerations, and the
iconographic and epigraphic aspects of the study.
For the description process, a computerized system was developed, by means of which the
seals could be described on three levels: general description, element description, modification
description. In this way, a uniform way of handling the data was achieved. The description
procedure is reflected in the fonn of a catalogue.
In order to facilitate the analysis, the seal corpus was organized in three, at times overlapping,
classes: iconographic seals, epigraphic seals, and hieroglyphic seals. The different classes were
then analyzed according to their peculiarities, e.g. geographical distribution, iconographic
motif groups, palaeography, onomastica, etc.
It was shown that the corpus of stamp seals from the Persian period consists of a wide variety
of objects in tenns of form and content, and could by no means be characterized as being
homogenous. A certain relationship between geographical origin, fonn, and content of the seal
could be established.
Description
Thesis (MA (Ancient Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 1992.
Keywords
Dissertations -- Ancient studies, Theses -- Ancient studies