Blue chalcedony cylinder seal

Achaemenid, about 6th-4th century BC. From Kirmanshah, Iran. This seal shows the varied foreign influences on the art of the Achaemenid Persian empire. The Persians had, at first, no clearly defined art of their own, but they made use of foreign craftsmen and expertise and welded the disparate traditions of their immense empire into a coherent and distinctive style. Greek and Egyptian motifs were particularly popular. Here is a representation of a falcon, perhaps the Egyptian god Horus, beside an incense burner. Along the border runs the Egyptian wedjat eye or 'Eye of Horus', a symbol of perfection. The winged goat is typical of Achaemenid art.