Cylinder Seal

CBS Register: VI Season. shell cyl. seal of Lugal-shag-padda. hunter, deer, lions, goat. (Husband of Shubad??) PG.800, R. Cemt. no. 63

UE II: Cylinder seal, shell. Inscription of lugal-sa-pad-da. PG/800, body 18. Worn by one of the grooms tending the asses of the sledge-chariot.

This seal was found with one of the grooms in the tomb pit of Puabi. Unlike the other four seals found in her tomb, this seal, carved from shell, carries a depiction of a combat scene – a fine example of the typical Early Dynastic IIIA combat scene, consisting of an unbroken figure band made up of five struggling figures. To the left, a hearo is shown wearing only a wrestling belt and with hair standing on end in large backward-turning curls. He wields a dagger and grapples a lion, who grasps a rampant cervid in his forelegs. The lion’s head is rendered as if seen from the top, indicating that he has turned his head to the side in order to take a bite of the animal’s neck. Overlapping the lion is a second rampant lion with a very full mane, which attacks a long-haired goat from behind. Beneath the goat’s chin is a small scorpion, and above his head, separated from the scene by two incised horizontal lines, is an inscription giving a male personal name, Lugal-sha-pa-da.

The two cuneiform signs that compose her name were initially read as "Shub-ad" in Sumerian. Today, however, we think they should be read in Akkadian as "Pu-abi."