The Significance of Cylinder Seals

Cylinder seals are small cylinders usually around an inch or so high, with engraved images around its side. The cylinder could then be rolled onto a surface of wet clay to imprint the image. By the time of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, there is abundant evidence that the gods were associated with various celestial objects. From these associations, we can start to match certain figures seen on cylinder seals to the corresponding celestial object. A lunar crescent represents the moon and seven dots represent the Pleiades. Other seals contain a second lion next to a pair of objects, sometimes date-palms, which represents the constellation Leo,. next to the constellation Gemini.