But the simplicity which usually characterizes the cylinder-seals of the earliest period sometimes gives place to an altogether overwhelming complexity, as in the seal represented in Fig. 51. The two registers into which the field of the cylinder is divided encroach on each other in so inordinate a manner that it requires a careful inspection to see that there are two registers. The eagle is the central figure in the upper register, his claws reaching out on the one hand towards a lion attacked by a vulture, on the other towards a lion who appears to be attacking a reversed ibex. Below, a huntsman occupies the commanding position; he is clad in the short Sumerian skirt, the fringe of which is archaically represented by a series of tags, which recall the fragmentary sculptures of the prehistoric period of Lagash (cf. Fig. 25, C), and he is surrounded by a crowd of lions and antelopes. This seal is clearly the offspring of a more developed art than that reproduced in Fig. 50, but this notwithstanding, it is essentially archaic in character, and belongs to the early Sumerian period. One of the most popular designs for cylinder seals in early Sumerian times is that of one or two seated deities, sometimes accompanied by the eagle. A very archaic example of this class is reproduced in Fig. 52. The two seated beings are certainly gods, in spite of their being clean shaven and having the same faintly suggested features as the figure in the middle. It will be observed that the fringe of the short Sumerian skirt of one of the deities and also of the worshipper is represented by a series of pointed tags as in Fig. 51. [Illustration: FIG. 50. FIG. 51.] [Illustration: FIG. 52. FIG. 53.] In Fig. 53 we again have two seated gods, but this time they have a large bowl between them, from which they seem to be drinking by means of tubes. They are apparently seated on camp-stools, while before one of them is a sacred tree. Their dress consists in a long robe, which covers one arm while leaving the other exposed and free, and reaches down to the ankle, the bottom of it being decorated with a fringe, and the body of it by a branch-shaped design.