Compartmented Seal with a suspension Ring

This circular seal, slightly larger than the average size, shows a perfectly symmetrical internal decoration composed of circles arranged around a central cross. A suspension ring is placed at the center of the posterior part: this object, certainly intended for strictly personal use, would have been suspended from the wrist or from a belt, etc.

Attested in a wide region ranging from Mesopotamia to the Indus, bronze compartmented seals were especially spread in ancient Bactria (modern-day Afghanistan): their impressions are rare and mostly appear on cretulae and terracotta vessels.

The production of such seals is fundamental in the history of ancient societies, since it follows the development of events as complex as the invention of private property (of which they are a strong evidence) and writing, a revolutionary means of communication primarily used in the administrative and commercial areas.