Our selection of the best Near Eastern Seals Reference Books & Catalogues you should have in your arsenal.
We are not saying purchase all of them at once, but at least start with couple of them and then continue to add to your book collection as time goes on. The reference books & catalogues will be the best investment for your own collection, not only to educate yourself but also to help making the best decisions and more importantly identifying fakes apart from authentic ones. There will always be fakes for sale on the market, this will never change. The fact is, you just can’t beat a good book for reference check and research. Plus, while reading thru a few of these books, you’ll learn something new.
We have in our library over 30 books & catalogues related to ancient Near Eastern Seals and here are our top recommendations.
List of Reference Books & Catalogues
Early Near Eastern Seals
In the Yale Babylonian Collection
Author : Briggs Buchanan
Format : Book
Publisher : Yale University Press
Date : 1981
Pages : 498
One of the best Near Eastern Seals collection book. Generally this is the first book we use to start our research. With a total of 1286 pictures of seals, modern impressions, ancient tablet impressions and drawings, it is our first choice for every near eastern seal collector.
The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia
Author : William Hayes Ward
Format : Book
Publisher : Carnegie Institution of Washington
Date : 1910
Pages : 428
Between 1885 and 1908, the American collector William Hayes Ward assembled, probably on
Pierpont Morgan’s behalf, a collection of 1157 seals that forms the core of the Morgan’s collection. The collection covers all the significant styles of Mesopotamian engravings, from the end of the 4th millennium B.C. to the 4th century B.C.
Although the book is written more than 100 year ago, with 1300+ drawings of cylinder seals impressions, symbols, deities, in depth explanations make this book a must have for every seal collector. The seal impressions are hand drawn, not the real impressions, but they are drawn in detail. It is a little bit outdated but still it contains a lot of information, including grouping of symbols and objects.
It is very hard to find the original hard cover version of it. But a free PDF version is available online to download:
“The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia” by William Hayes Ward in pdf
First Impressions
Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East
Author : Dominique Collon
Format : Book
Publisher : The British Museum Press
Date : 1987 First Published, 2005 Reprinted with revisions
Pages : 208
A very nice, brief description of development and use of seals over 3000 years. Written by Dominique Collon, who was an archaeologist, seal expert and former curator at the British Museum. She also discusses the information that seals provide on ancient Near Eastern religion, design and aspects of daily life.
Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals
in North American collections
Author : Edith Porada; Briggs Buchanan
Format : Book
Publisher : Pantheon Books
Date : 1948
2 Volumes, Volume I Text & Volume II Plates
The seal collection publication of the Pierpont Morgan Library. Photographs of seals and modern seal impressions of this extensive collection.
Pierpont Morgan’s online collection of Seals & Tablets can also be found at : Pierpont Morgan’s Library online collection of Seals & Tablets
Ancient Near Eastern Seals from the Kist Collection
Three Millennia of Miniature Reliefs
Author : Joost Kist
Format : Book
Publisher : Brill
Date : 2003
Examples of stamp and cylinder seals part of the collection of Kist family. The collection consists of hundreds of seals ranging from the 4th Millennium BC Uruk and Jemdat Nasr periods up to the Achaemenid period of the 1st Millennium BC.
Major Near Eastern Seal Collections
These are not books, they are online available seal collections around the world. These collections are easily accessible and very good starting points. They provide a ton of information online about Near Eastern seals and also info related to other artifacts such as cuneiform tablets, bronze & terracotta items etc.
–> Pierpont Morgan’s Library online collection of Seals & Tablets
–> British Museum Seal Collection
–> Yale University Library Babylonian Seal Collection
–> Penn Museum Cylinder Seal Collection
–> Royal Ontario Museum Seal Collection
–> Ashmolean Museum Collection
–> Spurlock Museum of World Cultures Seal Collection
–> Oriental Institute, University of Chicago Seal & Sealings Collection