A
cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet
clay. Cylinder seals were invented around
3500 BC in the
Near East, at the contemporary sites of
Susa in south-western
Iran and
Uruk in southern
Mesopotamia. They are linked to the invention of the latter’s
cuneiform writing on clay tablets. They were used as an administrative tool, a form of signature, as well as jewelry and as magical amulets; later versions would employ notations with
Mesopotamian cuneiform. In later periods, they were used to
notarize or attest to multiple impressions of clay documents.
Graves and other sites housing precious items such as gold, silver, beads, and gemstones often included one or two cylinder seals, as honorific
grave goods.