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Mesopotamian Gallery: Stamp and Cylinder Seals
Seals like those displayed in these ten cases were one of the most characteristic features of ancient Mesopotamian material culture. In the earliest periods, stamp seals were used for making impressions on clay and were worn as amulets. By about 3500 B.C., however, cylindrical seals carved with figures or geometric designs were in use, and soon completely replaced the stamp seals. These displays show how the style and decoration of these cylinder seals changed over the millennia and how stamps seals once again became popular during the Persian and Seleucid periods.
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Revised: February 19, 2007