KH.21.O.500

KH.21.O.500

Complete, perforated biconvex seal found in a debris layer above roadway L.12301 along the Seal-house, together with a cylinder seal (KH.21.O.501), thirteen bowl fragments with DEUS marks (e.g. Cat. no. 14) and a painted pithos (Cat. no. 12). The seal is engraved on one side with Anatolian hieroglyphs, giving us the name of the seal owner, framed by a simple ladder motif, typical of the Empire period (see Cat. no. 18). The hieroglyphs of the name form the sequence wa/i? (L439 without central stroke and squares with open bottom) -ni? (L411 unexpected periods at the open ends) -ti? (L90? with a longer ankle) -*a? (L450), which can be read very tentatively as Awa/initi, a hapax however. All hieroglyphic signs, with the exception of ti (L90?), are either made in a sketchy and unusual way or they are unknown signs. On the opposite side there is a sketched figure of a worshiper (?) with a pointed nose and bob hair. The personage is bent slightly forward with stretched arms; legs are depicted with wide upturned feet. The figure is framed by a simplified irregular ladder motif. Iconographic parallels can be found with cloaked worshipers among the seal impressions from the Nişantepe deposit at Hattusha (Herbordt 2005: 58-60, fig. 40) and from Gözlü Kule/Tarsus (Gelb 1956: 252, cat. no. 50, figs. 403, 407). When compared to those specimens, the Karkemish seal shows a less refined execution, representing a local product of the Late Empire period (late 13th century BCE).

Karkemish

C North

F.12300

Lower Palace

Late Bronze IIB

Hematite stamp seal

diam. 3.0; th. 1.1 (perf. diam. 0.4)