Akkadian cylinder seal, dated to 2400BC-2200BC, depicting "two antithetical groups, each consisting of a bearded hero fighting a lion"...Currently in the British museum...
There is a lot of speculation about the identity of the "hero". But no one is asking the question: why are there reeds depicted in the centre of the seal? Let me try to answer this question myself.
Remember this seal from my post "Canals"?
Sun God Utu/Shamash with sun (heat) rays emanating from his shoulders, standing in in an empty canal, in Leo (between the lions), the hottest, driest time of the year in Mesopotamia, and the time when canals were repaired, holding reed cutting knife...
In this post I talked not just about the best time to repair the canals (August) but also about the best time to cut reeds for boat building (Also August):
"Marsh Arabs of Iraq say that Berdi reed, must be cut in August, and only in August, or it absorbs water quickly and sinks"...
So I wonder if this Akkadian seal also symbolically depicts that the best time to cut reeds is "between lions", in Leo (Jul/Aug). BTW Leo marks Jul/Aug, because this is when Eurasian lions main mating season used to start...
Another post, "Scarlet ware with goat" in which I talk about the exploitation of reeds in Mesopotamia, this time as animal fodder...
That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...
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