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Signatures meant more in Mesopotamia than they do now − what cylinder seals say about ancient and modern life

  • Written by Serdar Yalçin, Assistant Professor of Art History, Macalester College
imageAn Akkadian cylinder seal, circa 2350-2150 B.C.E., depicts a contest scene. The image on the right shows the impression the seal would make. Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999/Metropolitan Museum of Art

The earliest form of the signature came from ancient Iraq in the form of cylinder seals.

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