CLASSIFICATION OF CYLINDERS. 2 
and to the period within that division. A cylinder may be clearly Babylonian, but 
it may belong to the primitive Chaldean, the Middle, or the late Babylonian period. 
There are certain lines of evidence that are conclusive, and, fortunately, for 
Babylonia and Assyria, as for Egypt, they are fairly abundant. 
ROYAL CYLINDERS. 
First among these are the cylinders which bear the name of a king or viceroy, 
whose date is known from historical documents. Such are the seals of the Elder 
Sargon (fig. 26), of Ur-Engur (fig. 30), of Gudea (fig. 39), and, to come down to a 
very late period, of the Persian Darius (fig. 43). Cylinders that have the same general 
characters as these can with sufhcient certainty be referred to the same gen- 
eral period. The resemblance must cover shape, size, and the character of the 
writing, as well as the art. “There are two or three dozens of such royal cylinders, 
mostly belonging to the period of Gudea and his predecessors. 
YU 
4 
N 
Sif 
if 
N 
Yh 
ea 

The following may be specified: 
1. The cylinder of Sargon I. (fig. 26). Here the period is early Babylonian. 
According to the chronology given by Nabonidus it is about 3800 B. C., although 
we may be obliged to reduce it by five hundred years, or even by the one thousand 
years desired by Lehmann. Here the art is free and of the best, and it will give, 
for size and general style, the approximate date of a large number of cylinders, 
some of which are of equal merit artistically, while others, made for less distinguished 
owners, are of a less fine design and finish. 
2. A cylinder of Bin-gani-sharali, King of Agade and grandson of Sargon I. 
(fig. 27). The inscription reads, “Bin-gani-sharali, son of the king. Izilum, 
scribe, thy servant.” 
3. Cylinder of Bin-gur-akhi, King of Erech (fig. 28, Ménant, 1, p. 104; Schrader, 
“Keilinschr. Bib.,” 11, p. 84). This is one of the most valuable seals belonging to 
the British Museum. About 3000 B.C. It reads: “To Bin-gur-akhi, King of 
Uruk; the scribe, thy servant.’’—Winckler. 
4. Another cylinder (fig. 29), of lapis-lazuli, belonging to the Metropolitan 
Museum and of very archaic period, where we have Gilgamesh, both en face and in 
profile, fighting lions and ibexes. The inscription is not easy to decipher, but may 
be read, “ King —— devoted ruler of Erech.” 
