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November 5, 2016 9 Comments

Accessing Ancient Art: Making 21st Century Cylinder Seals

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My ninth graders are studying the art of Ancient Sumer. I love teaching about ancient art of Mesopotamia – see my 5-Minute Art History Series: Sumerian Art of Mesopotamia video blog post and in The Art of Ancient Sumer, in The Curated Connections Library.

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accessing-ancient-art-making-21st-century-cylinder-seals

There are lots of entry points for this time period – cuneiform (one of the earliest written languages!), architecture (ziggurat temples!), astronomy (early constellation maps!), the wheel (the WHEEL!). The Sumerians invented for themselves a wide variety of things, from irrigation systems to sandals to sailboats. We know about this partly because they also created one of the first written languages – an incredible shift in history in the region and beyond.

Jemdet Nasr period cuneiform tablet, Mesopotamia (probably from Uruk), ca. 3100–2900 B.C.
Jemdet Nasr period cuneiform tablet, Mesopotamia (probably from Uruk), ca. 3100–2900 B.C.

Cylinder seals

Sumerians also created the cylinder seal by combining wheel technology with a picture story to create a uniquely artistic and useful “signature.” These could be used by merchants, builders, artisans, account keepers, and in governance. First developed sometime around 3500 BCE, the cylinders were made out of stone, glass, or clay, and featured a design carved into the side. The design might be figures, a scene of some sort, or have cuneiform markings. We have a glimpse into what was considered important to society at the time in pictographs and text. The cylinder could be rolled over wet clay to make an impression. Unlike stamps developed earlier, cylinder seals could cover a larger area.

Akkadian period Cylinder Seal, Mesopotamia, ca. 2350–2150 B.C.
Sumerian cylinder seal, Presentation before a god, 2112-2004 B.C.E.
Sumerian cylinder seal, Presentation before a god, 2112-2004 B.C.E.

The cylinder seals were used as signatures to mark tablets, building bricks, or other property. A hole through the middle of the cylinder made it wearable as jewelry or an amulet.

Making a cylinder seal

As I’ve said before, knowing and experiencing how artworks were made helps you have a better connection with and understanding of them. My ninth-graders made their own cylinder seals by using air-dry clay. We used Sculptit, which comes out the container in cylinders – very handy! – then tried pencils, thumb tacks, the end of brushes, basically anything we could find, to carve into it.

student-carving-cylinder-seal

We let the cylinders dry, and then rolled them out on to slabs of clay.

student-cylinder-seal-show-roll

After this we may paint them, because a lot of the relief sculptures from ancient art are painted – though the paint has faded from the examples we have – and I want students to see the difference.

student-made-cylinder-seals

Questions to ask students as part of this process:

  • What can we learn by making and trying out cylinder seals?
  • What are different situations – in different jobs, government functions, etc., – that Sumerians might have used cylinder seals?
  • What materials do you think made for the best cylinder seals, in terms of ease in carving, ease in printing, and durability? (STEAM question!)
  • How are cylinder seals an example of form and function?
  • What kind of markings, pictograph, or other type of visual signature would you create to represent yourself?
  • What are modern examples of symbols that we use to identify ourselves – in marks we make, jewelry we wear, screen names and avatars, etc.?
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Filed Under: Art and Artists

 

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Reader Interactions

9 Comments

  1. Marcia Beckett

    January 16, 2017 at 9:45 pm

    Those are very cool! I tried making cylinder seals once and they didn’t seem to print as well as yours. Perhaps the air dry clay is the trick. After the cylinder seal dried, did you roll it onto flattened air dry clay again or was it regular clay? My 5th graders study Sumerians so this is a good tie in. I have also made one point perspective ziggurats with the kids.

    Reply to this comment
    • Cindy, The Art Curator for Kids

      January 19, 2017 at 11:03 am

      Love the one-point perspective ziggurats! We did air dry clay for all of it.

      Reply to this comment
  2. Debra Klaholz

    September 2, 2017 at 4:17 pm

    About how many cylinders can be made from a 2# bucket of Sculpit?

    Reply to this comment
    • Cindy, The Art Curator for Kids

      September 3, 2017 at 6:57 pm

      I can’t remember how many ounces each of the little cylinders were that came out of the bucket. Each kid got one of those, and that was enough. I’m sorry! I don’t have the bucket anymore to count how many were in there.

      Reply to this comment
    • Susan Naylor

      February 1, 2018 at 7:51 pm

      Did you find out how many cylinders could be made out of the 2# bucket? I would love to know as well.

      Reply to this comment
      • Cindy Ingram

        February 2, 2018 at 9:37 am

        Oh goodness, if I had to guess, it would be maybe 30. I wish I still had the bucket!

        Reply to this comment
        • Susan Naylor

          February 4, 2018 at 3:59 pm

          Thanks!

          Reply to this comment
  3. Jennifer

    June 5, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    I will be teaching 6th grade this year and plan to try this with my students. I was wondering where to find the sculpit clay??

    Reply to this comment
    • Cindy Ingram

      June 18, 2018 at 11:24 am

      Looks like they have it at Blick and Amazon. https://www.dickblick.com/products/sargent-art-sculpt-it-air-hardening-clay/

      Reply to this comment

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