Scaraboid Stamp Seal: Crouching Sphinx

This is a scaraboid stamp seal made of a chalky, white stone. The face of the seal is engraved with the image of a reclining winged lion creature with a human head. A single wing rises up from the center of its back, with feathers indicated by a series of parallel grooves. The hair on the creature’s head is rendered in a similar manner. A curled tail rises up at the back. The seal is chipped at both the front and back of the creature. A palmette with three leaves is in the creature’s front paw. Scaraboids featuring similar creatures, often called sphinxes, are best known from Phoenicia and Cyprus. The closest match to this seal is a chalcedony scaraboid in the collection of Leo Merz (1), dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE. NOTE 1. M.-L. Vollenweider, Deliciae Leonis: Antike geschnittene Steine und Ringe aus einer Privatsammlung (Mainz am Rhein, 1984) no. 8.