In a number of seals, one of which is reproduced here (cf. Fig. 76), a man-fish, or a fish-god, resembling the figure found by Layard in sculptured relief at Nimrûd (cf. Pl. IV) occupies the most prominent position. Ashur in his winged disc is again casting the shadow of his divine protection over the sacred tree; on either side stands the Dagan-like worshipper with one hand raised and holding a basket in the other. He is followed by an attendant worshipper, while behind, is a warlike-looking personage—possibly the god Marduk—who is about to execute vengeance on an ostrich; with his left hand he firmly grasps the ostrich’s long neck, and in his right he holds a scimitar with which he apparently intends to remove the bird’s head. The seated deity found on Babylonian seals of all periods is also found on the cylinder-seals of the Assyrians. We have a good specimen of an Assyrian seal of the kind referred to in Fig. 77. A bearded god is seated on a chair with a high back such as is never found on Babylonian cylinders: the legs of the chair are strengthened to support the weighty person of the divine occupant by means of cross-bars, while the back is somewhat grotesquely decorated with balls. In front of the god is a table or stand with double folding legs and covered with a cloth upon which a shallow bowl and two flat cakes of bread are set; above the table is a fish—its head turned towards the god. Behind the enthroned god stands a goddess, from whose body proceed four ray-like projections which terminate in stars, the general appearance of the projections being not unlike that of four starry rockets. Before the loaded table stands the worshipper with one hand raised, while in the field of the cylinder there is an ibex, an eye-shaped design, seven balls and a crescent. CHAPTER X—SHELL-ENGRAVING AND IVORY-WORK (_A_) SHELL-ENGRAVING The art of engraving on shell in Mesopotamia dates back to the earliest days of Sumerian civilization. The most ancient of these engravings are executed on shells with rough surfaces, of which those of the oyster seem to have been the most popular. Some of the fragments recovered are clearly shaped and fashioned for inlaying purposes, while others, of curved shape, can be fitted together and once formed part of an engraved and delicately moulded vase or cup. Some time later mother-of-pearl became the popular material among engravers, who used it to great advantage. Mother-of-pearl is undoubtedly more effective and striking than ordinary shell, but it has its disadvantages and drawbacks, for it is both brittle and scaly, and in consequence of this the engraver seems to have been compelled from the necessity of the case to confine himself to the use of flat blades or flakes when employing this material. [Illustration: FIG. 78.—(Louvre) Cat., p. 389.] [Illustration: FIG. 79.—_Déc. en Chald._, Pl. 46, 4.]