West Asian Seals Bibliography

This section provides introductory literature on the study of seals and sealings. If you are interested in the subject but are not sure where to start, these publications offer a useful introduction.

Ameri, Marta, Sarah Kielt Costello, Gregg Jamison, and Sarah Jarmer Scott (eds.). 2018. Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World: Case Studies from the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, and South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108160186.

Collon, Dominique. 1987. First Impressions. Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East. London: British Museum Press.

Collon, Dominique. 1990. Near Eastern Seals. Interpreting the Past 2. London: British Museum Publications. 

Collon, Dominique. 1997. 7000 Years of Seals. 1st ed. London: British Museum Press.

Frankfort, Henri. 1939. Cylinder Seals. A Documentary Essay on the Art and Religion of the Ancient Near East. London: Macmillan.

Gibson, McGuire, and Robert D. Biggs (eds.). 1977. Seals and Sealings in the Ancient Near East. Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 6. Malibu: Undena.

Hallo, William Wolfgang, and Irene J. Winter (eds.). 2001. 2 Seals and Seal Impressions. Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale. CRRAI 45. Bethesda: CDL Press.

Klengel-Brandt, Evelyn (ed.). 1997. Mit Sieben Siegeln versehen. Das Siegel in Wirtschaft und Kultur des Alten Orients. Wiesbaden: Philipp von Zabern.

Moortgat, Anton. 1940. Vorderasiatische Rollsiegel: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Steinschneidekunst. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann.

Moortgat-Correns, Ursula. 1971. “Glyptik.” In Ernst Weidner and Wolfram von Soden (eds.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie 3. Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, 440–62.

Otto, Adelheid. 2010. “Siegelpraxis, B. Archäologisch.” In Michael P. Streck (ed.), Reallexikon für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 12. Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 469–74.

Otto, Adelheid. 2019. “Glyptic.” In Ann C. Gunter (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art Hoboken: Wiley Blackwell, 411–31. doi:10.1002/9781118336779.ch17.

Porada, Edith. 1993. “Why Cylinder Seals? Engraved Cylindrical Seal Stones of the Ancient Near East, Fourth to First Millennium B.C.” The Art Bulletin 75(4): 563–82. 

Radner, Karen, and Frans van Koppen. 2010. “Siegelpraxis, A. Philologisch.” In Michael P. Streck (ed.), Reallexikon für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 12. Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 466–69.

Scott, Sarah J., and Oya Topçuoğlu (eds.). 2025. The Routledge Companion to Seals and Seal Studies in Antiquity: New Approaches to Mediterranean and West Asian Visual Culture. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003159186.

von Wickede, Alwo. 1990. Prähistorische Stempelglyptik in Vorderasien. Münchener Vorderasiatische Studien 6. München.

Winter, Irene J. 2001. “Introduction: Glyptic, History, and Historiography.” In William W. Hallo and Irene J. Winter (eds.), Seals and Seal Impressions. Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale 2. CRRAI, Bethesda: CDL Press, 1–13.

This section presents publications on seals and sealings from museums and private collections, arranged by author in alphabetical order. To search for publications by collection, please use the Zotero library, where you can search by museum or collection name, as well as by city where the collections are located.

Abd Ali, Abbas Taha. 2025. “Exploring Unpublished Cylinder Seals Preserved in the Iraqi Museum from the Third Millennium BCE / دراسة أختام أسطوانية غير منشورة من الألف الثالث قبل الميلاد محفوظة في المتحف العراقي.” Athar al-rafedain Journal 10(2): 69–85.

Altavilla, Stefania, and Christopher B. F. Walker. 2009. Late Babylonian Seal Impressions on Tablets in the British Museum: Part 1: Sippar. Nisaba 20. Messina.

Amiet, Pierre. 1957. Les intailles orientales de la collection Henri de Genouillac: conservées au Musée Departemental des Antiquités de Seine-Maritime à Rouen. Carthage: Musée Lavigerie.

Amiet, Pierre. 1973. Bas-reliefs imaginaires de l’Ancien Orient d’après les cachets et les sceaux-cylindres. Paris: L’Imprimerie Nationale.

Amiet, Pierre. 2007. “Elam et Trans-Elam. À propos de sceaux-cylindres de la collection du Dr. Serge Rabenou.” Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 101: 51–58.

Basmachi, Farag. 1994. Cylinder Seals in the Iraq Museum. Uruk and Jamdat Nasr Periods. Edubba 3. London: Nabu Publications.

Billiet, Joseph. 1931. Cachets et cylindres-sceaux de style sumérien archai͏̈que et de styles dérivés du Musée de Cannes (Collection Lycklama). Paris: Geuthner.

Bleibtreu, Erika. 1974. “Altorientalische Altertümer in Museen und Privatsammlungen.” Archiv für Orientforschung 25: 216–20.

Bleibtreu, Erika. 1976. “Mesopotamische Rollsiegel und sāsānidische Stempelsiegel im Joanneum, Graz.” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 68: 105–30.

Bleibtreu, Erika. 1981. Rollsiegel aus dem Vorderen Orient. Zur Steinschneidekunst zwischen etwa 3200 und 400 v. Chr. nach Beständen in Wien und Graz; Sonderausstellung der Ägyptisch-Orientalischen Sammlung im Münzkabinett des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien. Wien: Verlag für Vorderasiatische Archäologie.

Blocher, Felix. 1992a. Siegelabrollungen auf frühaltbabylonischen Tontafeln im British Museum. Ein Katalog. Münchener Vorderasiatische Studien 10. München / Wien: Profil-Verlag.

Blocher, Felix. 1992b. Siegelabrollungen auf frühaltbabylonischen Tontafeln in der Yale Babylonian Collection. Ein Katalog. Münchener Vorderasiatische Studien 9. München / Wien: Profil-Verlag.

Buchanan, Briggs. 1966. Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Buchanan, Briggs. 1970. “Cylinder Seal Impressions in the Yale Babylonian Collection Illustrating a Revolution in Art circa 1700 B.C.” The Yale University Library Gazette 45: 53–65.

Buchanan, Briggs. 1981. Early Near Eastern Seals in the Yale Babylonian Collection. New Haven / London: Yale University Press.

Buchanan, Briggs, and Peter Roger Stuart Moorey. 1984. Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum 2: The Prehistoric Stamp Seals 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Buchanan, Briggs, and Peter Roger Stuart Moorey. 1988. Catalogue of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Ashmolean Museum 3: The Iron Age Stamp Seals (c. 1200–350 BC) 3. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Casanowicz, Immanuel M. 1926. “The Collection of Ancient Oriental Seals in the United States National Museum.” Proceedings of the United States National Museum 69: 1–23.

Clercq, Louis de. 1888. Collection de Clercq: Catalogue méthodique et raisonné; antiquités assyriennes; cylindres orientaux, cachets, briques, bronzes, bas-reliefs, etc. Paris: Leroux.

Collon, Dominique. 1982. Akkadian, Post-Akkadian, Ur III Periods. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum. Cylinder Seals 2. London: British Museum Press.

Collon, Dominique. 1986. Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian Periods. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum. Cylinder Seals 3. London: British Museum Press.

Collon, Dominique. 2001. Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum. Cylinder Seals 5. London: British Museum Press.

Collon, Dominique, Eric Gubel, and J. Lambrechts. 1985. “Mesopotamische en Egyptische glyptiek in de verzamelingen van het Museum Vleeshuis te Antwerpen. Omtrent vier ongepubliceerde zegels.” Antwerpen 31(3): 130–36.

Dalley, Stephanie. 1972. “Seals from the Hutchinson Collection.” Iraq 34(2): 125–30. 

De Clercq, Louis, and Joachim Menant. 1888. Collection de Clercq. Catalogue méthodique et raisonné: Antiquités assyriennes, cylindres orientaux, cachets, briques, bronzes, bas-reliefs, etc. Paris: Leroux. 

Delaporte, Louis. 1909. Catalogue du Musée Guimet. Cylindres orientaux. Annales du Musée Guimet 33. Paris: Ernest Leroux.

Delaporte, Louis. 1910. Catalogue des cylindres orientaux et des cachets assyro-babyloniens, perses et syro-cappadociens de la Bibliothèque Nationale. Paris: Ernest Leroux.

Delaporte, Louis. 1920. Catalogue des cylindres, cachets et pierres gravées de style oriental du Musée du Louvre I. Fouilles et Missions. Paris: Hachette.

Delaporte, Louis. 1923. Catalogue des cylindres, cachets et pierres gravées de style oriental II. Acquisitions. Paris: Hachette.

Deutsch, Robert, and André Lemaire (eds.). 2000. Biblical Period Personal Seals in the Shlomo Moussaieff Collection. Tel Aviv: Archaeological Center Publications. 

Douglas van Buren, Elizabeth. 1959. Catalogue of the Ugo Sissa Collection of Stamp and Cylinder Seals of Mesopotamia. Rome: Arti Grafiche Panetto & Petrelli.

Douglas van Buren, Elizabeth Douglas. 1940. The Cylinder Seals of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Analecta Orientalia 21. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum.

Doumet, Claude. 1992. Sceaux et cylindres orientaux. La collection Chiha. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica 9. Freiburg / Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. https://www.zora.uzh.ch/entities/publication/dd0197b5-187c-4a81-b83e-50b936b29c61.

Eisen, Gustavus A. 1940. Ancient Oriental Cylinder and Other Seals with a Description of the Collection of Mrs. William H. Moore. Oriental Institute Publications 47. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Evelein, M. A. 1940. Gids van het Koninklijk Kabinet van Munten, Penningen en Gesneden Steenen. Jaarboek voor Munt- en Penningkunde 27. Den Haag: Algemeene Landsdrukkerij.

Fischer, Claudia. 1992. “Siegelabrollungen im British Museum auf Ur-III-zeitlichen Texten aus der Provinz Lagaš: Tierkampfszenen.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 82(1): 60–91.

Fischer, Claudia. 1997. “Siegelabrollungen im British Museum auf Ur-III-zeitlichen Texten aus der Provinz Lagaš: Verehrungsszenen.” Baghdader Mitteilungen 28: 97–183.

Gibson, McGuire. 2023. “Catalog of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Collection of the Field Museum.” In Where Kingship Descended from Heaven: Studies on Ancient Kish Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago, 261–329. https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/SAC/sac1.

Glock, Alice. 1988. Minuscule Monuments of Ancient Art: Catalogue of Near Eastern Stamp and Cylinder Seals Collected by Virginia E. Baily in Memory of Katherine J. Hammersley. Madison: New Jersey Museum of Archaeology at Drew University.

Gordon, Cyrus H. 1939. “Western Asiatic Seals in the Walters Art Gallery.” Iraq 6: 3–34.

Hamilton, Rebecca W. 1967. “A Sumerian Cylinder Seal with Handle in the Ashmolean Museum.” Iraq 29(1): 34–41. doi:10.2307/4199820.

Hammade, Hamido. 1987. Cylinder Seals from the Collections of the Aleppo Museum, Syrian Arab Republic 1. Seals of Unknown Provenience. British Archaeological Reports International Series (BAR) 335. Oxford: BAR Publishing.

Hammade, Hamido. 1994. Cylinder Seals from the Collections of the Aleppo Museum, Syrian Arab Republic 2. Seals of Known Provenance. British Archaeological Reports International Series (BAR) 597. Oxford: BAR Publishing.

Hogarth, David George. 1920. Hittite Seals: With Particular Reference to the Ashmolean Collection. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Jonge, Johannes Cornelis de. 1837. Catalogue d’empreintes du cabinet des pierres gravées de S. M. le roi des Pays-Bas, grand-duc de Luxembourg. La Haye: Imprimerie de l’état. http://portal.getty.edu/api/681x16.

Keel, Othmar, and Christoph Uehlinger. 1990. Altorientalische Miniaturkunst. Die ältesten visuellen Massenkommunikationsmittel; ein Blick in die Sammlungen des Biblischen Instituts der Universität Freiburg, Schweiz. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

Keel-Leu, Hildi, and Beatrice Teissier. 2004. Die Vorderasiatischen Rollsiegel der Sammlungen Bibel+Orient der Universität Freiburg Schweiz. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica 200. Göttingen / Fribourg: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 

Kist, Joost. 2003. Ancient Near Eastern Seals from the Kist Collection: Three Millennia of Miniature Reliefs. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 18. Leiden: Brill.

Kühne, Hartmut. 1980. Das Rollsiegel in Syrien. Zur Steinschneidekunst in Syrien zwischen 3300 und 330 vor Christus. Ausstellungskataloge der Universität Tübingen 11. Tübingen: Altorientalisches Seminar der Universität Tübingen.

Lambert, Wilfred G. 1966. “Ancient Near Eastern Seals in Birmingham Collections.” Iraq 28(1): 64–83.

Lambert, Wilfred G. 1970. “Objects Inscribed and Uninscribed.” Archiv für Orientforschung 23: 46–55.

Lambert, Wilfred G. 1979. “The Near Eastern Seal Collection of the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art.” Iraq 41(1): 1–45.

Legrain, Léon. 1925. The Culture of the Babylonians from Their Seals in the Collections of the Museum. Publications of the Babylonian Section 14. Philadelphia: Philadelphia University Museum.

Mazzoni, Stefania. 1972. “Sigilli cilindrici dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli.” Annali dell’istituto Orientale di Napoli 32: 417–51.

Meijer, Diederik J. W. 1978. “Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals in the Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam.” Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 25: 7–34.

Meijer, Diederik J.W. 2017. “An Important Collection of Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals.” In Ben J. L. van den Bercken and Vivian C. P. Baan (eds.), Engraved Gems: From Antiquity to the Present Papers on Archaeology of the Leiden Museum of Antiquities, Leiden: Sidestone Press, 75–84.

Menant, Joachim. 1878. Catalogue des Cylindres orientaux du cabinet royal des médailles de la Haye. La Haye: Imprimerie de l’état. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044081412512&seq=1.

Menant, Joachim. 1880. Empreintes de cylindres assyro-chaldéens relevées sur les contrats d’intérêt privé du Musée Britannique. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.

Merrillees, Parvine H. 1990. Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder and Stamp Seals in Australian Collections. Buried History Monographs 4. Victoria: Deakin University Press.

Merrillees, Parvine H. 2005. Pre-Achaemenid and Achaemenid Periods. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum 6. London: British Museum Press.

Mitchell, Terence C., and Ann Searight. 2008. Impressions of Stamp Seals on Cuneiform Tablets, Cay Bullae, and Jar Handles. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum, Stamp Seals 3. Leiden / Boston: British Museum Publications.

Møller, Eva. 1986. “Cylinder Seals from the Horniman Museum, London.” Iraq 48: 65–72. doi:10.2307/4200251.

Møller, Eva. 1992. Ancient Near Eastern Seals in a Danish Collection. Carsten Niebuhr Institute Publications 11. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press.

Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart. 1979. “Unpublished Early Dynastic Sealings from Ur in the British Museum.” Iraq 41(2): 105–20. doi:10.2307/4200107.

Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart, and Oliver Robert Gurney. 1973. “Ancient Near Eastern Seals at Charterhouse.” Iraq 35(1): 71–81.

Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart, and Oliver Robert Gurney. 1978. “Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals Acquired by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 1963-1973.” Iraq 40(1): 41–60.

Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart, and Edith Porada. 1981. Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics and Seals: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection of Ancient Near Eastern, Central Asiatic, and European Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

Moortgat, Anton. 1940. Vorderasiatische Rollsiegel: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Steinschneidekunst. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann.

Moortgat-Correns, Ursula. 1955. “Altorientalische Rollsiegel in der staatlichen Münzsammlung München.” Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 6(3): 7–27.

Moortgat-Correns, Ursula. 1968. “Die ehemalige Rollsiegel-Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer.” Baghdader Mitteilungen 4: 233–97.

Munn-Rankin, Joan Margaret. 1959. “Ancient Near Eastern Seals in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.” Iraq 21(1): 20–37. doi:10.2307/4199645.

Muscarella, Oscar White (ed.). 1981. Ladders to Heaven, Art Treasures from Lands of the Bible (Royal Ontario Museum, June-October, 1979). Toronto: McClelland and Steward.

Neumann, Georg. 2016. Altorientalische Siegel und Keilschriftdokumente im Archäologischen Museum der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster: Die Stiftung der Sammlung Tono Eitel. Altertumskunde des Vorderen Orients 20. Münster: Ugarit.

Niederreiter, Zoltán. 2020. Catalogue of the Cylinder Seals in the Royal Museums of Art and History 1: Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods (circa 1000–500 B.C.). Antiqua et Orientalia 7. Budapest: Eötvös University Press.

Noveck, Madeline. 1975. The Mark of Ancient Man: Ancient Near Eastern Stamp Seals and Cylinder Seals; the Gorelick Collection. New York: Brooklyn Museum.

von der Osten, Hans Henning. 1934. Ancient Oriental Seals in the Collection of Mr. Edward T. Newell. Oriental Institute Publications 22. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/oip-22-ancient-oriental-seals-collection-mr-edward-t-newell.

von der Osten, Hans Henning. 1936. Ancient Oriental Seals in the Collection of Mrs. Agnes Baldwin Brett. Oriental Institute Publications 37. Chicago: Oriental Institute. https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/oip-37-ancient-oriental-seals-collection-mrs-agnes-baldwin-brett.

von der Osten, Hans Henning. 1957. Altorientalische Siegelsteine der Sammlung Hans Silvius von Aulock. Studia Ethnographica Upsaliensia 13. Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksell.

von der Osten, Hans Henning. 1961. “Altorientalische Siegelsteine.” Medelhavsmuseet Bulletin 1: 20–41.

Pic, Marielle. 2016. “Henri Arnold Seyrig (1895-1973): un passion pour la glyptique, I. La collection de sceaux et sceaux-cylindres.” In Jean-Marie Dentzer, Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Frédérique Duyrat, and Olivier Picard (eds.), Henri Seyrig (1895–1973) Syria Supplément, Beirut: Presses de l’Ifpo, 183–201.

Pittman, Holly. 1987. Ancient Art in Miniature: Near Eastern Seals from the Collection of Martin and Sarah Cherkasky. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Pittman, Holly. 1998. “Cylinder Seals.” In Richard L. Zettler (ed.), Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Arcaeology and Anthropology, 75–84.

Porada, Edith. 1947. Mesopotamian Art in Cylinder Seals of the Pierpont Morgan Library. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library.

Porada, Edith. 1948. Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals in North American Collections: The Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library. The Bullingen Series 14. Washington D. C.: Pantheon Books.

Porada, Edith. 1981. “Stamps and Cylinder Seals of the Ancient Near East.” In Peter Roger Stuart Moorey (ed.), Ancient Bronzes, Ceramics and Seals: The Nasli M. Heeramaneck Collection of Ancient Near Eastern, Central Asiatic, and European Art, Gift of the Ahmanson Foundation Los Angeles: County Museum of Art, 187–234.

Porada, Edith, and Dominique Collon. 2016. The Second Millennium BC Beyond Babylon. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum: Cylinder Seals 4. London: British Museum Press.

Rashid, Subhi Anwar, and Hayat Abid Al-Huri. 1982. The Akkadian Seals of the Iraq Museum. Baghdad: State Organistaion of Antiquities and Heritage.

Ravn, Otto Emil. 1960. A Catalogue of Oriental Cylinder Seals and Seal Impressions in the Danish National Museum. Arkæologisk-historisk række 8. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet.

Rehm, Ellen. 2003. “Rollsiegel aus einer hessischen Privatsammlung.” Ugarit Forschungen 35: 521–65. doi:10.11588/PROPYLAEUMDOK.00001148.

Rowe, Ignacio Márquez. 2015. La Colección Mesopotámica del Museo de Montserrat. Javier Uriach Torelló (ed.). Barcelona: Museu de Montserrat.

Sarmant, Thierry. 1994. Le cabinet des médailles de la bibliothèque nationale, 1661-1848. École Nationale des Chartes Paris: Mémoires et documents de l’École des Chartes. Paris: Ecole des chartes. 

Scheil, Vincent. 1916. “Cylindres et légendes inédits.” Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 13(1): 5–25.

Schmidt, Aage. 1930a. Die Sammlung des Herrn Baron Guillaume Poche, Consul von der Czekoslovakei, Aleppo. Aleppo.

Schmidt, Aage. 1930b. Rollsiegel im Museum der schönen Künste in Moskau (ehem. Sammlung Golenischeff). Kopenhagen.

Sotheby’s. 1992. Western Asiatic Cylinder Seals and Antiquities (Part I) from the Erlenmeyer Collection: The Property of the Erlenmeyer Stiftung (a Foundation for Animal Welfare) ; Sotheby’s (London), Day of Sale: Thursday 9th July 1992. London: Sotheby’s (London).

Speleers, Louis. 1917. Catalogue des intailles et empreintes orientales des Musées Royaux du Cinquantenaire, Bruxelles. Bruxelles: Vromant.

Speleers, Louis. 1943. Catalogue des intailles et empreintes orientales des Musées royaux d’art et d’histoire: Supplément. Bruxelles: Vromant.

Stein, Diana. 1987. “Seal Impressions on Texts from Arrapha and Nuzi in the Yale Babylonian Collection.” In David I. Owen and Martha A. Morrison (eds.), Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 225–320.

Teissier, Beatrice. 1984. Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from the Marcopoli Collection. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Teissier, Beatrice. 1998. “Sealing and Seals: Seal-Impressions from the Reign of Hammurabi on Tablets from Sippar in the British Museum.” Iraq 60: 109–86. 

Thorn, Brett, and Dominique Collon. 2013. “Dr Lee’s Collection of Cylinder Seals.” Iraq 75: 119–42. doi:10.1017/S0021088900000437.

Tunca, Önhan. 1979. Catalogue des sceaux-cylindes du Musée Régional d’Adana. Syro-Mesopotamian Studies 3. Malibu: Undena.

Van Dijk-Coombes, Renate M. 2016. “Cylinder Seals in the Collections of Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town and the Department of Ancient Studies of Stellenbosch University.” Akroterion 61(1): 1–23.

Volk, Joyce Geary. 1979. Habib Anavian Collection. Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder and Stamp Seals from the Early 6th Millennium B.C. to 651 A.D. New York: Habib Anavian Galleries.

Vollenweider, Marie-Louise. 1967. Catalogue raisonné des sceaux, cylindres, intailles et camées 1. Geneva: Musée d’Art et d’Histoire.

Vollenweider, Marie-Louise. 1983. Catalogue raisonné des sceaux, cylindres, intailles et camées /3: La collection du Révérend Dr. V. E. G. Kenna et d’autres acquisitions et dons récents 3. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern.

Walters, Henry Beauchamp. 1926. Catalogue of the Engraved Gems and Cameos: Greek, Etruscan and Roman in the British Museum. Revised and Enlarged Edition. London: British Museum.

Ward, William Hayes. 1909. Cylinders and Other Ancient Oriental Seals in the Library of J. Pierpont Morgan. New York: Privately Printed. 

Williams-Forte, Elizabeth. 1976. Ancient Near Eastern Seals: A Selection of Stamp and Cylinder Seals from the Collection of Mrs. William H. Moore. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Wiseman, Donald John. 1962. Cylinder Seals: Uruk to Early Dynastic Periods. Catalogue of the Western Asiatic Seals in the British Museum 1. London: Trustees of the British Museum.

Zadoks-Josephus Jitta, Annie Nicolette. 1952. Catalogue sommaire des cylindres orientaux au Cabinet Royale des Médailles à La Haye. La Haye: Imprimerie de l’état.

This section presents publications of glyptic material recovered from archaeological excavations. To search by site, period, or country, please use the Zotero library and its tags filtering options.

Abay, Eşref. 2001. “Seals and Sealings.” In Altan Çilingiroğlu and Mirjo Salvini (eds.), Ayanis I. Ten Years’ Excavations at Rusaḫinili Eiduru-Kai: 1989–1998 Documenta Asiana, Rome: CNR - Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, 321–53.

Alizadeh, Abbas. 2008. “A Cappadocian Cylinder Seal.” In Leon Levy, Lawrence E. Stager, J. David Schloen, and Daniel M. Master (eds.), Ashkelon 1: Introduction and Overview (1985-2006) Final Reports of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 571–75.

Almamori, Haider Oraibi, Taha Abod, Karim Swadi, and Agnete Wisti Lassen. 2024. “Old Seals in New Contexts at Kassite Basmaya: Sealing Devices, Collectibles, and Heirlooms.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie114(2): 229–41. doi:10.1515/za-2024-0021.

Amiet, Pierre. 1960. “Notes sur le répertoire iconographique de Mari à l’époque du Palais.” Syria 37(3/4): 215–32.

Amiet, Pierre. 1961. “La glyptique de Mari à l’époque du Palais.” Syria 38(1): 1–6.

Amiet, Pierre. 1971. “La Glyptique de l’Acropole (1969-1971). Tablettes lenticulaires de Suse.” Cahiers de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran (DAFI) 1: 217–33.

Amiet, Pierre. 1985. “La glyptique de Mari: état de la question.” M.A.R.I. 4: 475–85.

Amiet, Pierre. 1992. Corpus des cylindres de Ras Shamra-Ougarit II: sceaux-cylindres en hematite et pierres diverses. Ras Shamra - Ougarit 9. Paris: ERC. https://www.mission-ougarit.fr/wp-content/pdf/mission_ougarit_publication_rso_090.pdf.

Archi, Alfonso. 2015. “A Royal Seal from Ebla (17th Cent. B.C.) with Hittite Hieroglyphic Symbols.” Orientalia Nova Series 84(1): 18–28.

Beck, Pirhiya. 1977. “The Cylinder Seals” Śara Ben-Arie (ed.). Atiqot: 63–69.

Beck, Pirhiya. 1989. “Cylinder Seals from the Temple in Hazor Area H.” In Amnon Ben-Tor and Yigaʾel Yadin (eds.), Hazor III-IV: An Account of the Third and Fourth Seasons of Excavation, 1957-1958 Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 310–15.

Beck, Pirhiya. 1993. “A Sealing from Tel Aphek, Israel.” In Machteld Mellink, Edith Porada, and Tahsin Özgüç (eds.), Aspects of Art and Iconography: Anatolia and Its Neighbors. Studies in Honor of Nimet Özgüç , 671–73.

Ben-Tor, Amnon. 1994. “Early Bronze Age Cylinder Seal Impressions and a Stamp Seal from Tel Qashish.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (295): 15–29. doi:10.2307/1357102.

Ben-Tor, Amnon. 2017. “Early Bronze Age Cylinder-Seal Impressions.” In Sharon Zuckerman, Shlomit Bechar, and Débora Sandhaus (eds.), Hazor VII: The 1990-2012 Excavations. The Bronze Age Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 471–74.

Ben-Tor, Daphna. 2005. “A Scarab Impression.” In Amnon Ben-Tor, Doron Ben-Ami, and Ariella Livneh (eds.), Yoqne’am III: The Middle and the Late Bronze Ages. Final Report of the Archaeological Excavations (1977–1988) 7. Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 361–62.

Beyer, Dominique. 1985a. “Nouveaux documents iconographiques de l’époque des Shakkanakku de Mari.” Mari, Annales de Recherches Interdisciplinaires 4: 173–89.

Beyer, Dominique. 1985b. “Scellements de portes du palais de Mari.” Mari, Annales de Recherches Interdisciplinaires 4: 375–84.

Beyer, Dominique. 2001. Emar IV: Les sceaux: Mission archéologique de Meskéné–Emar, recherches au pays d’Aštata. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. Series Archaeologica 20. Fribourg / Göttingen: Éditions Universitaires and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. doi:10.1086/429173.

Beyer, Dominique. 2007. “Les sceaux de Mari au IIIe millénaire: Observation sur la documentation ancienne et les données nouvelles des Villes I et II.” In Jean-Claude Margueron, Olivier Rouault, and Pierre Lombard (eds.), Akh Purattim 1Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 231–60.

Beyer, Dominique. 2008. “Empreintes de sceaux.” In Önhan Tunca and Abd el-Massih Hanna Baghdo (eds.), Chagar Bazar (Syrie) III. Les trouvailles épigraphiques et sigillographiques du chantier I (2000-2002) Publications de la Mission Archéologique de l’Université de Liège en Syrie, Leuven: Peeters, 129–37.

Boehmer, Rainer Michael. 1977. “Glyptische Erzeugnisse.” In Barthel Hrouda (ed.), Isin-Išān Bahrīyāt I. Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1973-1974 München: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 71–82.

Boehmer, Rainer Michael. 1981. “Stierkopf und Schlange. Die archaische Siegelabrollung W 22150.” Baghdader Mitteilungen 12: 7–8.

Boehmer, Rainer Michael. 1985. “Glyptik aus den italienischen Ausgrabungen im Hamrin-Gebeit.” Mesopotamia 20: 5–21.

Boehmer, Rainer Michael. 1986. “Drei Siegel Mit Spiralstabmuster Aus Ḫattuša.” In Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati (ed.), Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith Porada Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 49–50.

Brandes, Mark A. 1979. Siegelabrollungen aus den archaischen Bauschichten in Uruk-Warka. Freiburger Altorientalische Studien 3. Wiesbaden: Steiner.

Buccellati, Giorgio, and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati. 1983. “Terqa: The First Eight Seasons.” Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes 33(2): 47–67.

Charvát, Petr. 1988. “Archaeology and Social History: The Susa Sealings, ca. 4000-2300 B.C.” Paléorient 14(1): 57–63. doi:https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.1988.4439.

Charvát, Petr. 2017. Signs from Silence: Ur of the First Sumerians. 1st ed. Prague: Charles University, Karolinum Press.

Collon, Dominique. 1978. “La glyptique hourrite d’Alalakh.” Revue hittite et asianique 36: 35–41.

Collon, Dominique. 1982. The Alalakh Cylinder Seals. A New Cataloque of the Actual Seals Excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley at Tell Atchana, and from Neighbouring Sites on the Syrian-Turkish Border. British Archaeological Reports International Series (BAR) 132. Oxford: BAR Publishing.

Dinçol, Ali M., and Belkis Dinçol. 2008. Die Prinzen- und Beamtensiegel aus der Oberstadt von Boğazköy-Ḫattuša vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zum Ende der Grossreichszeit. Boğazköy-Hattuša 22. Mainz: von Zabern.

Dohmann-Pfälzner, Heike. 2013. “Siegel des dritten Jahrtausends v. Chr. in der syrischen Gezira.” In Winfried Orthmann, Paolo Matthiae, and Michel al-Maqdissi (eds.), Archéologie et histoire de la Syrie. La Syrie de l’époque néolithique à l’âge du fer 1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 215–34.

Douglas van Buren, Elizabeth. 1949. “The Cylinder Seals from Brak.” Iraq 11(1): 59–76.

Dyson Jr., Robert H., and Mary Virginia Harris. 1986. “The Archaeological Context of Cylinder Seals Excavated on the Iranian Plateau.” In Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati (ed.), Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith PoradaBibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 79–110.

Frangipane, Marcella (ed.). 2007. Arslantepe Cretulae: An Early Centralised Administrative System Before Wring. Centro Internazionale di Ricerche Archeologiche, Antropologiche e Storiche (CIRAAS) 7. Roma: Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche Archeologiche e Antropologiche dell’Antichità. 

Frankfort, Henri. 1955. Stratified Cylinder Seals from the Diyala Region. Oriental Institute Publications 72. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Fügert, Anja. 2015. Die neuassyrische und spätbabylonische Glyptik aus Tall Šēḫ Ḥamad. Berichte der Ausgrabung Tall Šēḫ Ḥamad, Dūr-Katlimmu 16. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Garrison, Mark B., and Margret Cool Root. 2001. Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets I. Images of Heroic Encounter. Oriental Institute Publications 117. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/seals-persepolis-fortification-tablets-volume-i-images-heroic-encounter.

Gibson, McGuire. 1975. Excavations at Nippur. Eleventh Season. Oriental Institute Communications 22. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gibson, McGuire. 1978. Excavations at Nippur. Twelfth Season. Oriental Institute Communications 23. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Guigues, Paul-Émile. 1938. “Lebé’a, Kafer-Garra, Qrayé, nécropoles de la région sidonienne (suite).” Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 2: 27–72.

Haussperger, Martha. 1987. “Glyptische Erzeugnisse 1983–1984.” In Barthel Hrouda (ed.), Isin-Išān Bahrīyāt III: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1983–1984 München: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 61–68.

Haussperger, Martha. 1992. “Glyptische Erzeugnisse 1986. 1988–1989 (9.–11. Kampagne).” In Barthel Hrouda (ed.), Isin – Išān Baḥrīyāt IV: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1986–1989 München: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 74–81.

Herbordt, Suzanne. 2005. Die Prinzen- und Beamtensiegel der hethitischen Großreichszeit auf Tonbullen aus dem Nisantepe-Archiv in Hattusa: mit Kommentaren zu den Siegelinschriften und Hieroglyphen. Bogazköy-Hattusa 19. Mainz: von Zabern.

Hrouda, Barthel. 1981. “Glyptische Erzeugnisse.” In Barthel Hrouda (ed.), Isin - Išān Bahrīyāt. II: Die Ergebnisse Der Ausgrabungen 1975-1978 Abhandlungen (Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 77–81.

Hussein, Salim Younus. 2009. “Excavations at Tell Al-Wilayah During the 1999–2000 Seasons.” Sumer 52: 59–88.

Jans, Greta, and Joachim Bretschneider. 2011. The Seals and Sealings of Tell Beydar, Nabada: (Seasons 1995 - 2001). A Progress Report. Beydar Monographs 1. Turnhout: Brepols.

Kantor, Helene J. 1958. “The Glyptic.” In Calvin W. MacEwan, Linda Braidwood, Henri Frankfort, Hans G. Güterbock, Richard Haines, and Carl H. Kraeling (eds.), Soundings at Tell Fakhariyah Oriental Institute Publications, Chicago: University Press, 69–85. https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oip79.pdf.

Kelly-Buccellati, Marilyn. 1981. “Miniature Art from Terqa 1700 B.C.: New Sources for Mid-Second Millennium Art in Mesopotamia.” In Giorgio Buccellati and Charles Speron (eds.), The Shape of the Past, Studies in Honor of F. D. Murphy Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology and Office of the Chancellor, University of California, 44–53.

Kelly-Buccellati, Marilyn. 1986. “Sealing Practices at Terqa.” In Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith PoradaBibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 133–42.

Kjaerum, Poul, and Flemming Højlund. 1983. Failaka/Dilmun: The Second Millennium Settlements. Vol. 1.1 The Stamp and Cylinder Seals: Plates and Catalogue Descriptions. Danish Archaeological Investigations on Failaka, Kuwait 1. Aarhus: Danish Archaeological investigations on Failaka.

Klengel-Brandt, Evelyn. 1983. “Siegelabrollungen auf altbabylonischen Tontafeln aus Babylon.” Altorientalische Forschungen 10(1): 65–106.

Le Brun, Alain. 1978. “Le niveau 17B de l’Acropole de Suse (campagne de 1972).” Cahiers de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran 9: 57–98.

Legrain, Léon. 1934. “The Cylinder Seals.” In Charles Leonard Woolley (ed.), The Royal Cemetery. A Report on the Predynastic and Sargonid Graves Excavated Between 1926 and 1931 Ur Excavations, London: Trustees of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, 323–65.

Legrain, Léon. 1936. Archaic Seal-Impressions. Ur Excavations 3. London: Trustees of the British Museum.

Legrain, Léon. 1951. Seal Cylinders. Ur Excavations 10. London: British Museum Press.

Marcus, Michelle I. 1989. “Emblems of Authority: The Seals and Sealings from Hasanlu IVB.” Expedition 31(2.3): 53–62.

Marcus, Michelle I. 1990. “Glyptic Style and Seal Function: The Hasanlu Collection.” In Thomas G. Palaima (ed.), Aegean Seals, Sealings and Administration. Proceedings of the NEH-Dickson Conference of the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory of the Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, January 11-13, 1989 Aegaeum, Liège: University de Liège, 175–96.

Matthews, Donald M. 1991. “Middle Assyrian Glyptics from Tell Billa.” Iraq 53: 17–42.

Matthews, Donald M. 1997. The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak. Cylinder Seals of Third Millennium Syria. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 15. Fribourg: University Press and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Matthiae, Paolo. 1969. “Empreintes d’un cylindre paléosyrien de Tell Mardikh.” Syria 46(1/2): 1–43. doi:10.3406/syria.1969.6055.

Mazzoni, Stefania. 1975. “Tell Mardikh e una classe di glittica siro-anatolica del periodo di Larsa.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 35: 21–43.

Mazzoni, Stefania. 1984. “Seal-Impressions on Jars from Ebla in EB I A-B.” Akkadica 37: 18–45. doi:https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.100187.

McDonald, Helen. 2003. “Art and Artefact: Sealings from the HP Ash Dump.” In Roger J. Matthews (ed.), Excavations at Tell Brak. Exploring an Upper Mesopotamian Regional Centre, 1994-1996 4. London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 212–28.

Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart. 1979. “Unpublished Early Dynastic Sealings from Ur in the British Museum.” Iraq 41(2): 105–20. doi:10.2307/4200107.

Moorey, Roger, and John Boardman. 1986. “The Yunus Cemetery Group: Haematite Scarabs.” In Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati (ed.), Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith Porada Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 35–48.

Nougayrol, Jean. 1939. Cylindres-sceaux et empreintes de cylindres: trouvés en Palestine: au cours de fouilles régulières. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 33. Paris: Geuthner.

Ornan, Tallay, Laura A Peri, and Othmar Keel. 2017. “Cylinder Seals.” In Amnon Ben-Tor, Sharon Zuckerman, Shlomit Bechar, and Débora Sandhaus (eds.), Hazor VII: The 1990-2012 Excavations. The Bronze Age Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 475–514.

Özgüç, Nimet. 1983. “Sealings from Acemhöyük in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.” In Rainer Michael Boehmer and Kurt Bittel (eds.), Beiträge Zur Altertumskunde Kleinasiens. Festschrift Für Kurt Bittel Mainz: von Zabern, 413–20.

Özgüç, Nimet. 1986. “Two Seal Impressions from Kültepe and the Kirik Bayir Relief.” In Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati (ed.), Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith Porada Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 197–200.

Parayre, Dominique. 1987. “Tell Leilan 1987: Sceaux et Empreintes de Sceaux.” Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes37/38: 128–41.

Parayre, Dominique. 1991. “Notes sur la glyptique de Tell Leilan à l’époque paléo-babylonienne.” In Dominique Charpin and Francis Joannès (eds.), Marchands, diplomates et empereurs : études sur la civilisation mésopotamienne offertes à Paul Garelli Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 389–96.

Parayre, Dominique. 2003. “The Ninevite 5 Sequence of Glyptic at Tell Leilan.” In Elena Rova (ed.), The Origins of North Mesopotamian Civilization: Ninivite 5 Chronology, Economy, Society Turnhout: Brepols, 271–310.

Parayre, Dominique. 2004. “Les empreintes de sceaux de Tell Leilan au Bronze Moyen.” Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes 47/48: 63–75.

Parker, Barbara. 1949. “Cylinder Seals from Palestine.” Iraq 11(1): 1–43. 

Parker, Barbara. 1962. “Seals and Seal Impressions from the Nimrud Excavations, 1955-58.” Iraq 24(1): 26–40. 

Petrie, William Matthew Flinders. 1933. “Chapter III: Scarabs.” In Ancient Gaza III: Tell El Ajjul Publications of the Egyptian Research Account & British School of Archaeology in Egypt, London: Quaritch for the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, University College, 4. https://archive.org/details/ERA55.

Porada, Edith. 1947. Seal Impressions from Nuzi. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 24. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research.

Porada, Edith. 1960. “Notes on the Sargonid Cylinder Seal, Ur 364.” Iraq 22: 116–23. doi:10.2307/4199675.

Porada, Edith. 1965. “Appendix F: Cylinder Seals.” In Kathleen M. Kenyon (ed.), Excavations at Jericho II: The Tombs Excavated in 1955–58 London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 656–61.

Porada, Edith. 1975. “The Cylinder Seal from Tomb 66 at Ruweise.” Berytus 24: 27–33.

Porada, Edith. 1983. “Cylinder Seal from Jericho.” In Kathleen M. Kenyon and Thomas A. Holland (eds.), Excavations at Jericho. Volume V: The Pottery Phases of the Tell and Other Finds London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, 774–76.

Ricetti, Melissa. 2018. “Identification Through Image and Legend. Inscribed Seals from Kültepe Lower Town Level II.” In Alexander Ahrens, Patrick M. Michel, Grégoire Nicolet, Susanne Rutishauser, Alexander E. Sollee, Claudia E. Suter, and Johanna Tudeau (eds.), Text and Image. Proceedings of the 61e RAI, Geneva and Bern, June 2015 Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis Series Archaeologica, Leuven: Peeters, 369–82.

Sellin, Ernst. 1927. “Die Ausgrabungen von Sichem. Kurze vorläufige Mitteilung über die Arbeit im Sommer 1927.” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 50: 265–74.

Stein, Diana. 1993a. The Seal Impressions; Text. Das Archiv des Šilwa-Teššup 8. Gernot Wilhelm (ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Stein, Diana. 1993b. The Seal Impressions; Catalogue. Das Archiv des Šilwa-Teššup 9. Gernot Wilhelm (ed.). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Teissier, Beatrice. 1994. Sealings and Seals on Texts from Kültepe Kārum Level 2. Uitgaven van het Nederlands Historisch-Archeologisch Instituut te Istanbul 70. Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te Istanbul.

Tufnell, O., and William Ayres Ward. 1966. “Relations Between Byblos, Egypt and Mesopotamia at the End of the Third Millennium B.C. A Study of the Montet Jar.” Syria 43(3/4): 165–241.

Werner, Peter. 2004. Ausgrabungen in Tall Munbāqa Ekalte III: Die Glyptik. Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 108. Saarbrücken: Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag.

al-Gailani Werr, Lamia. 1982. “Catalogue of the Cylinder Seals from Tell Suliemeh - Hamrin.” Sumer 38: 68–88.

al-Gailani Werr, Lamia. 1983. “Cylinder Seal Discoveries in the Hamrin Basin.” Ur - The International Magazine of Arab Culture 1: 47–50.

Zoshk, Rouhollah Yousefi, and Morteza Hessari. 2026. “Script over Sealings: Proto-Elamite Bureaucratic Innovation at Tepe Sofalin, Iran.” Near Eastern Archaeology 89(1): 16–23.

Zoshk, Rouhollah Yousefi, and Parisa Nekouei. 2026. “Typology of Stamp Seals from Tepe Hissar, Damghan /گونه شناسی مهرهای مسطح تپه حصار دامغان.” Journal of Iran National Museum 4(1): 105–12. doi:10.22034/jinm.2025.2053681.1101.

This section presents publications on the documentation of seals and sealings, methodological approaches in seal studies, and experiments, techniques and technologies used for seal manufacture and documentation. If you search for a specific method or tool for analysing seals, please use the Zotero library and use the tag filter.

Boon, Paul, and Martine de Vries-Melein. 2012. “A New Look at Cylinder Seals – Digitization of 5 Seals from the De Liagre Böhl Collection, Leiden, The Netherlands.” In Roger Matthews and John Curtis (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Vol. 3. Fieldwork & Recent Research; Posters 3. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 357–71.

Dahl, Jacob L., and Kate Kelley. 2021. “A Note on Cataloguing Cylinder Seals: Including Weight.” Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. https://cdli.earth/articles/cdln/2018-1.

Dahl, Jacob L., Kate Kelley, D. Young, K. Martinez, and J. Hare. 2018. “A Structured Light Approach to Imaging Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals: How Efficient 3D Imaging May Facilitate Corpus-Wide Research.” In Kate Kelley and Rachel K.L. Wood (eds.), Digital Imaging of Artefacts Oxford: Archaeopress, 49–74. 

Di Ludovico, Alessandro. 2018. “Data Description and the Integrated Study of Ancient Near Eastern Works of Art: The Potential of Cylinder Seals.” In Alessandro Di Ludovico, Vanessa Bigot Juloux, and Amy Rebecca Gansell (eds.), CyberResearch on the Ancient Near East and Neighboring Regions: Case Studies on Archaeological Data, Objects, Texts, and Digital Archiving Digital Biblical Studies, Leiden / Boston: Brill, 85–110. 

Earl, Graeme, Kirk Martinez, Philip Basford, Alexander Bischoff, Alan Bowman, Charles Crowther, Jacob Dahl, et al. 2011. “Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) System for Ancient Documentary Artefacts.” In EVA London 2011: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts London: British Computer Society, 147–54. doi:10.14236/ewic/EVA2011.27.

Gorelick, Leonard. 1975. “Near Eastern Cylinder Seals Studied with Dental Radiography.” Dental Radiography and Photography 48(1): 17–21.

Gorelick, Leonard. 1981. “Functional Analysis of Drilling Using Scanning Electron Microscopy.” Annali dell’Istituto Orientale di Napoli 41: 327–33.

Gorelick, Leonard, and A. John Gwinnett. 1978. “Ancient Seals and Modern Science - Using the Scanning Electron Microscope as an Aid in the Study of Ancient Seals.” Expedition 20(2): 38–47.

Gorelick, Leonard, and A. John Gwinnett. 1981. “Close Work Without Magnifying Lenses? A Hypothetical Explanation Tor the Ability of Ancient Craftsmen to Effect Minute Detail.” Expedition 23(2): 27–34.

Gorelick, Leonard, and A. John Gwinnett. 1983. “Ancient Egyptian Stone-Drilling. An Experimental Perspective on a Scholarly Disagreement.” Expedition 25(3): 40–47.

Hameeuw, Hendrik, and Geert Willems. 2011. “New Visualization Techniques for Cuneiform Texts and Sealings.” Akkadica 132(2): 163–78.

Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark, and Massimo Vidale. 1992. “A New Look at Stone Drills of the Indus Valley Tradition.” Materials Research Society Symposium: 495–518.

Pitzalis, Denis, Paolo Cignoni, Michel Menu, and Geneviève Aitken. 2008. “3D Enhanced Model from Multiple Data Sources for the Analysis of the Cylinder Seal of Ibni-Sharrum.” In The 9th International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Braga.

Porada, Edith. 1982. “Problems of Method in the Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 102(3): 501–6. doi:10.2307/602302.

Roux, V. 1995. “Le travail des lapidaires. Atelier de Khambhat (Cambay): passé et présent.” In Françoise Tallon (ed.), Les dossiers du Musée du Louvre Paris: Réunion de Musées Nationaux, 39–46.

Sax, Margaret. 1991. “Innovative Techniques Used to Decorate the Perforations of Some Akkadian Rock Crystal Cylinder Seals.” Iraq 53: 91–95. doi:10.2307/4200338.

Sax, Margaret, J. McNabb, and Nigel D. Meeks. 1998. “Methods of Engraving Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals: Experimental Confirmation.” Archaeometry 40(1): 1–21. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1998.tb00821.x.

Sax, Margaret, and Nigel D. Meeks. 1994. “The Introduction of Wheel Cutting as a Technique for Engraving Cylinder Seals: Its Distinction from Filing.” Iraq 56: 153–66. 

Sax, Margaret, Nigel D. Meeks, and Dominique Collon. 2000. “The Early Development of the Lapidary Engraving Wheel in Mesopotamia.” Iraq 62: 157–76. doi:10.2307/4200487.

Tsouparopoulou, Christina, and Robert Casties. 2014. “Progress Report: An Online Database for the Documentation of Seals, Sealings, and Seal Impressions in the Ancient Near East.” Studia Orientalia Electronica 2: 37–68.

de Vries-Melein, Martine, Dirk J. G. Visser, Judith J. Mulder, Luc Megens, Silvia Imberti, Winfried Kockelmann, and Henk Kars. 2010. “Mesopotamian ‘Haematite’ Seals in a New Light.” In Paolo Matthiae, Frances Pinnock, Lorenzo Nigro, and Nicolò Marchetti (eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East: 5 May-10 May 2009, Sapienza, Universita Di Roma 1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 219–31. 

Wagensonner, Klaus. 2014. “Digitizing in the Round.” Cuneiform Digital Library Notes. https://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdln/php/single.php?id=35.

Wagensonner, Klaus. 2015. “On an Alternative Way of Capturing RTI Images with the Camera Dome.” Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. https://cdli.earth/articles/cdln/2015-1.

Wagensonner, Klaus. unpublished. “Eine Welt in Miniatur: Ein Essay zu Aufnahme und Abbildung von Rollsiegeln.” In Gebhard J Selz and Klaus Wagensonner (eds.), Orientalische Kunstgeschichte(n). Festschrift für Erika Bleibtreu Wiener Offene Orientalistik, Wien: LIT Verlag.

Wartke, Ralph B. 1997. “Materialien der Siegel und ihre Herstellungstechnik.” In Evelyn Klengel-Brandt (ed.), Mit Sieben Siegeln versehen. Das Siegel in Wirtschaft und Kultur des Alten Orients Wiesbaden: Philipp von Zabern, 41–61.

This section presents publications on the act of sealing, the chaîne opératoire involved in the production of seals and sealings, and studies of sealing practices. If you like to search for a certain sealing type, please use the Zotero library.

Alizadeh, Abbas. 1988. “Socio-Economic Complexity in South-Western Iran During the Fifth and Fourth Millenia B.C: Evidence from Tall-i Bakun.” Iran 26: 17–34.

Ameri, Marta, Sarah Kielt Costello, Gregg Jamison, and Sarah Jarmer Scott (eds.). 2018. Seals and Sealing in the Ancient World: Case Studies from the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, and South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108160186.

Amiet, Pierre. 1986. “L’usage des sceaux à l’époque initiale de l’histoire de Suse.” In Leon De Meyer, H. Gasche, and F. Vallat (eds.), Fragmenta Historiae Elamicae: Mélanges offerts à M.J. Stève Paris, 17–24.

Amiet, Pierre. 1988. “Les modes d’utilisation des sceaux à Suse au IVe millénaire.” Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan 21: 7–16.

Baker, Heather D., and Cornelia Wunsch. 2001. “Neo-Babylonian Notaries and Their Use of Seals.” In William Wolfgang Hallo and Irene J. Winter (eds.), Seals and Seal Impressions. Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale CRRAI, Bethesda: CDL Press, 197–213.

Balza, Maria Elena. 2008a. “I trattati ittiti. sigillatura, testimoni, collocazione.” In Mario Liverani and Clelia Mora (eds.), I diritti del mondo cuneiforme Pavia: Pavia University Press.

Balza, Maria Elena. 2008b. “Les pratiques sigillaires à Emar: quelques données préliminaires à propos des documents d’achat et vente.” In Lorenzo D’Alfonso, Yoram Cohen, and Dietrich Sürenhagen (eds.), The City of Emar Among the Late Bronze Age Empires. History, Landscape, and Society. Proceedings of the Konstanz Emar Conference, 25.–26.04.2006. (AOAT 349) Münster: Ugarit, 153–77.

Balza, Maria Elena. 2009. Sigilli e modalità di sigillatura a Emar nel tardo bronzo (XIV-XIII sec. a.c.). Pavia: Italian University Press.

Balza, Maria Elena. 2012. “Sealed Tablets from Hattusha.” In Maria Elena Balza, M. Giorgieri, and Clelia Mora (eds.), Archivi, Depositi, Magazzini Presso Gli Ittiti / Archives, Depots and Storehouses in the Hittite World. Proceedings of the Workshop Held at Pavia, June 18, 2009 Italian University Press, 77–110.

Beyer, Dominique. 1985. “Scellements de portes du palais de Mari.” Mari, Annales de Recherches Interdisciplinaires 4: 375–84.

Beyer, Dominique. 2007. “Les sceaux de Mari au IIIe millénaire: Observation sur la documentation ancienne et les données nouvelles des Villes I et II.” In Jean-Claude Margueron, Olivier Rouault, and Pierre Lombard (eds.), Akh Purattim 1Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 231–60.

Blocher, Felix. 2001. “Sealing Tablets in Early Second-Millenium Babylonia: Wealth and Significance of the Yale Babylonian Collection.” In William Wolfgang Hallo and Irene J. Winter (eds.), Seals and Seal Impressions. Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Bethesda: CDL Press, 133–48.

Brandes, Mark A. 1979. Siegelabrollungen aus den archaischen Bauschichten in Uruk-Warka. Freiburger Altorientalische Studien 3. Wiesbaden: Steiner.

Bregstein, Linda Beth. 1993. “Seal Use in Fifth Century B.C. Nippur, Iraq: A Study of Seal Selection and Sealing Practices in the Murašû Archive.” University of Pennsylvania.

Cholidis, Nadja, Manfred Dietrich, and Ruth Mayer-Opificius (eds.). 1994. Beschreiben und Deuten in der Archäologie des Alten Orients: Festschrift für Ruth Mayer-Opificius. Altertumskunde des Vorderen Orients 4. Münster: Ugarit.

Frangipane, Marcella (ed.). 2007. Arslantepe Cretulae: An Early Centralised Administrative System Before Wring. Centro Internazionale di Ricerche Archeologiche, Antropologiche e Storiche (CIRAAS) 7. Roma: Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche Archeologiche e Antropologiche dell’Antichità. 

Kelly-Buccellati, Marilyn. 1986. “Sealing Practices at Terqa.” In Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith PoradaBibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 133–42.

Lambert, Wilfred G. 1979. “The Training of a Seal-Cutter” Walter Farber, W. W. Hallo, O. R. Gurney, M. Stol, Piotr Steinkeller, M. Civil, Claus Wilcke, and Marcel Sigrist (eds.). Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 73(1): 89.

Mahrzahn, J. 1997. “Der Siegelschneider nach keilschriftlichen Quellen.” In Evelyn Klengel-Brandt (ed.), Mit Sieben Siegeln versehen. Das Siegel in Wirtschaft und Kultur des Alten Orients Wiesbaden: Philipp von Zabern, 25–40.

Mazzoni, Stefania. 1984. “Seal-Impressions on Jars from Ebla in EB I A-B.” Akkadica 37: 18–45. doi:https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.100187.

Otto, Adelheid. 1992. “Siegelabrollungen aus Tell Biʾa.” Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 124: 45–78.

Otto, Adelheid. 1995. “Ein neuentdecktes Glied in der Kette altorientalischer Administration – Zur Deutung gesiegelter Langetten.” Damaszener Mitteilungen 8: 85–93.

Otto, Adelheid. 1999. “Local, Regional and International: Seal Impressions from the Palace of Šamši-Adad in Tall Bi‘a/Tuttul.” In Languages and Cultures in Contact: At the Crossroads of Civilizations in the Syro-Mesopotamian Realm; Proceedings of the 42th RAI Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Leuven: Peeters, 337–53.

Otto, Adelheid. 2010. “Siegelpraxis, B. Archäologisch.” In Michael P. Streck (ed.), Reallexikon für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 12. Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 469–74.

Otto, Adelheid. 2022. “The Middle Bronze Age Seal Impressions.” In Guy Bunnens (ed.), Tell Ahmar on the Syrian Euphrates: From Chalcolithic Village to Assyrian Provincial Capital Oxford / Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 65–68.

Radner, Karen, and Frans van Koppen. 2010. “Siegelpraxis, A. Philologisch.” In Michael P. Streck (ed.), Reallexikon für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 12. Berlin / New York: de Gruyter, 466–69.

Rakic, Yelena. 2014. “Impressions of the Contest Scene: Glyptic Imagery and Sealing Practice in the Akkadian Period.” In Brian A. Brown and Marian H. Feldman (eds.), Critical Approaches to Ancient Near Eastern Art Boston / Berlin: de Gruyter, 185–203. doi:10.1515/9781614510352.

Reichel, Clemens. 2003. “Appendix: Sealing Practice.” In Drehem Administrative Documents from the Reign of Amar-Suena Oriental Institute Publications, Chicago: Oriental Institute, 603–24.

Singer, Itamar. 1995. “Borrowing Seals at Emar.” In Joan Goodnick Westenholz (ed.), Seals and Sealings: Proceedings of the Symposium Held on September 2, 1993 Jerusalem, Israel Jerusalem: Bible Lands Museum, 57–64.

Stein, Diana. 1997. “Siegelverwendung in Wirtschaft und Verwaltung.” In Evelyn Klengel-Brandt (ed.), Mit Sieben Siegeln versehen. Das Siegel in Wirtschaft und Kultur des Alten Orients Wiesbaden: Philipp von Zabern, 104–24.

Wengrow, David. 2008. “Prehistories of Commodity Branding.” Current Anthropology 49(1): 7–34. doi:10.1086/523676.

Zettler, Richard L. 1977. “The Sargonic Royal Seal: A Consideration of Sealing in Mesopotamia.” In McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs (eds.), Seals and Sealings in the Ancient Near East Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu: Undena, 33–39.

Zettler, Richard L. 2007. “Dynastic Change and Institutional Administration in Southern Mesopotamia in the Later Third Millenium BCE: Evidence from Seals and Sealing Practices.” In Harriet E.W. Crawford (ed.), Regime Change in the Ancient Near East and Egypt Proceedings of the British Academy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 9–36.

This section would be too extensive to display here. Moreover, many publications, especially catalogues of collections and excavation reports, cover several periods and include seals of different styles, which would result in considerable duplication in a static list. We therefore recommend using the Zotero library to browse and filter publications by period and style. Each entry is assigned keyword tags indicating the periods and styles of the seals and sealings discussed in the publication.

In this section you can find a selection of helpful online databases of collections and other projects focused on seals and sealings.

ACAWAI-CS. “Annotated Corpus of Ancient West Asian Imagery: Cylinder Seals (ACAWAI-CS).” https://www.acawai-cs.gwi.uni-muenchen.de/.

Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. “Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.” https://cdli.earth. 

Diyala Archaeological Database. “Diyala Archaeological Database.” https://diyaladb02.uchicago.edu/ords/f?p=103:111:::::: 

Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL). “Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL).” https://www.ebl.lmu.de/.

KIŠIB. “KIŠIB. Digital Corpus of Ancient West Asian Seals and Sealings / Digitales Korpus vorderasiatischer Siegel und Siegelabrollungen.” https://project.kishib.org. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art. “The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” https://www.metmuseum.org/.

Musée du Louvre. “Louvre Online Collection.” https://collections.louvre.fr/en/.

Papyrus Seals and Stamps from Graeco-Roman and Byzantine Egypt. “Papyrus Seals and Stamps from Graeco-Roman and Byzantine Egypt.” https://www.trismegistos.org/seals/index.html. 

Rijksmuseum Collection. “Rijksmuseum van Oudheden Collection.” https://www.rmo.nl/collectie/.

SESPOA Project. “Sceaux et Empreintes de Sceau Du Proche-Orient Ancien (SESPOA).” https://sespoa.huma-num.fr/.

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. “Vorderasiatisches Museum (VAM).” https://www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/vorderasiatisches-museum/home/.

The British Museum. “British Museum Collection.” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection.

The Morgan Library and Museum. “CORSAIR. The Morgan Library & Museum Collection Catalogue.” https://corsair.themorgan.org/vwebv/searchBasic. 

The University Pennsylvania Museum. “Digital Collections - Penn Museum.” https://collections.penn.museum/collections/. 

The Ur Online Project. “UrOnline.” http://www.ur-online.org. 

WAM. “Walters Art Museum Online.” https://art.thewalters.org/.