🎉 Proud to share an associated initiative:
Let’s Clay!
Created by Albert Dietz with Clélia Paladre and @yhe, this Franco-German project brings together seal experts and students to explore the practical use of seals and sealings in ancient West Asia through hands-on work and original museum material.
We’re thrilled to have Let’s Clay! associated with the KIŠIB undertaking ✨
KIŠIB
KIŠIB is building a comprehensive digital corpus of ancient West Asian seals and sealings – connecting objects, people, and places across millennia. We combine archaeological, and digital expertise to make this heritage accessible to scholars and the public worldwide.
How did ancient cities shape their identities? Kepa Martinez Garcia, Fellow of our KIŠIB project, explores Early Dynastic Mesopotamia through its cylinder seals, revealing networks of cooperation and cultural exchange between city-states like Ur, Lagash, and Šuruppak.
📅 10 December 2025 | 4:15 PM
📍 @freieuniversitaet, Holzlaube, Room 0.2052
#Mesopotamia #CylinderSeals #Glyptic #Archaeology #KISHIB #FUBerlin
🎉 Fantastic start to the KIŠIB project!
Last week we celebrated our kick-off at the BBAW with inspiring guest speakers, strong interest from colleagues, and a very special highlight: Evelyne Klengel-Brandt.
Following the talks, the reception turned into a great space for discussions about research ideas and future cooperation. The energy in the room was exactly what we hoped for — a collaborative start to a long-term effort. ✨
#KISHIBProject #AncientWestAsia #Seals #Glyptics #Archaeology
🕵️♀️ Researchers in Focus
Edith Porada (1912–1994) was a renowned Austrian-American scholar of ancient West Asian art. Her analysis of 1,000+ sealings from Nuzi and her two-volume Corpus of Ancient Near Eastern Seals at the Pierpont Morgan Library refined earlier classifications and set new standards in glyptics. A true pioneer of the field.
See also her centennial volume: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-134606
#ResearchersInFocus #Archaeology #AncientWestAsia #Glyptics #KISHIBProject
🪔 Did you know?
Cylinder seals came in many sizes and colors — from tiny 0.5 cm miniatures to impressive 7 cm examples, often with a 2:1 height-to-diameter ratio.
Most were carved from stones like serpentine, lapis lazuli, or hematite — but not all! Less valuable materials such as shell, bone, quartz ceramic, or even clay (as in burgul seals) were also used, and metal examples are extremely rare.
Small objects, great variety.
#QuickFacts #KISHIBProject #Mesopotamia #AncientArt #CylinderSeal
Yesterday and today the project took part in the DiHMa.Lab Workshop (14–15 October 2025) — a joint event by MaRDI and NFDI4Objects at FU Berlin.
We presented our work on KIŠIB – The Digital Corpus of Ancient West Asian Seals and Sealings, and it was great to see how well digital humanities and research data infrastructures resonate with colleagues from mathematics and the NFDI network.
#KISHIBProject #DigitalHumanities #NFDI4Objects #MaRDI #DiHMaLab
This cylinder seal shows a sacrifice in front of a ziggurat. A priest in a long robe faces right, standing before a censer and a sacrificial table with legs ending in animal feet. On the table lie curved offerings and four dotted elements that mark additional gifts.
🔹 Middle Assyrian period (13th-12th BCE)
🔹 Stone cylinder seal, VA 05362
🔹 Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
👉 https://id.smb.museum/object/2065364/
#KISHIBProject #mesopotamia #cylinderseal #ziggurat #glyptic
Just back from our very first KIŠIB retreat at Kloster Banz near Bamberg 🏞️ Three days of work, laughter, and team spirit: planning sessions, bowling 🎳, hiking 🚶, and a museum visit 🏛️. We return motivated, connected, and already looking forward to next year! 💙
🔧 Tools & Techniques: Modern Seal Impressions
In antiquity, cylinder seals were rolled over clay tablets to secure documents or goods. We still recreate this practice today – but with modern materials. Instead of clay, we use Fimo, a synthetic modeling compound.
The seal is carefully rolled over the soft surface, revealing its full design. Afterwards, the impression is baked 🔥 so it hardens and can be handled and studied safely.
#KISHIBProject #ToolsAndTechniques #SealResearch #Archaeology
A busy week for the KIŠIB team:
We were present at two conferences – Bytes & Bygones in Ghent and the Glyptic Day at the Louvre in Paris.
Lots of inspiring talks, great conversations, and valuable impulses for our seal research!
KIŠIB boosted:
Researchers in Focus 🔎
Dominique Collon (b. 1940) has shaped the study of ancient West Asian seals like few others. As curator at the British Museum she combined meticulous cataloguing with clear and engaging writing. Her landmark book "First Impressions" opened the field to a broad audience and remains a key reference today.
✨ With Collon, we launch our new series highlighting the scholars behind the seals.
#ResearchersInFocus #Archaeology #Assyriology #WomenInScience
Researchers in Focus 🔎
Dominique Collon (b. 1940) has shaped the study of ancient West Asian seals like few others. As curator at the British Museum she combined meticulous cataloguing with clear and engaging writing. Her landmark book "First Impressions" opened the field to a broad audience and remains a key reference today.
✨ With Collon, we launch our new series highlighting the scholars behind the seals.
#ResearchersInFocus #Archaeology #Assyriology #WomenInScience
In Old Assyrian times, women produced textiles, managed households, invested in trade, lent silver, and wrote strikingly personal letters. Their seals authenticated contracts and protected property, giving them an active and visible role in economic and social life.
Read the full story here:
➡️ https://anetoday.org/women-assur-kanesh/
KIŠIB is based at two renowned academies:
🏛️ Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW, @BBAW)
🏛️ Bavarian Academy of Sciences (BAdW)
Tradition meets digital innovation – providing the backbone for our work on seals and sealings.
📍 Would you have expected such a digital project to be rooted in centuries-old academies?
Wrapping up our week on cylinder seals 🌀
The seal was the tool – the impression carried the meaning, authority, and story.
Which would you keep: the carved object or the rolled design?
To “read” a cylinder seal impression:
🐂 Spot the motifs
🌀 Follow the narrative flow
🔠 Look for inscriptions
These impressions were more than decoration – they carried identity and authority.
Shamash is identified by the rays and the saw. He was the Mesopotamian sun god. He was also responsible for justice and could be associated with the underworld.
All visible in this tiny serpentine cylinder from the Akkadian Period (end of 3rd millennium BCE).
🏹 Balu-ili’s Hunt – a timeless scene carved into a tiny cylinder seal from ancient Mesopotamia.
When rolled onto clay, the seal tells a story: a hunter facing powerful animals. These miniature artworks not only protected documents and goods, but also carried meaning, identity, and narrative across millennia.
At KIŠIB, we are making seals accessible for researchers and anyone curious.
For more info: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329090
#Archaeology #Mesopotamia #Seals #DigitalHumanities #OpenScience
@civers Thank you!
@BBAW Thank you!
👋 Hello Mastodon!
Our project is based at two renowned institutions: the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW, @BBAW) and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) in Munich.
From these inspiring places, we work on building a comprehensive digital corpus of Mesopotamian seals and sealings.
Follow us for insights into archaeology, digital methods, and the fascinating world of ancient seals!
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst