Die Glyptik des 2. Jahrtausends v. Chr. aus Giricano am Oberen Tigris

Abstract

Cylinder and stamp seals can be interpreted among other things as evidence of the existence of a hierarchically structured system of economy on account of their functions in recording ownership. A group of six cylinder and one stamp seal from the late Bronze Age strata at the hamlet settlement of Giricano on the upper Tigris prove that this region was integrated in a system of exchange that extended over large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria. While some seals represent the transregional styles of the Mitanni period, three ceramic cylinder seals display clear regional traits. They are of particular importance because glyptic artefacts made of ceramics are still very little known. This group of fi nds show how strongly this locality, at the junction of various major cultural areas, was integrated in the Mitanni state.