gems, ancient lapidary, glyptic, engraved gems, seals, Syria, Aleppo

The present article is a slightly expanded version of a paper read at the Paris Rencontre in July 1980; it could be expanded far more and it is perhaps premature to publish it. However, in attempting to establish workshop groups, we are unlikely ever to have more than the evidence of the seals or their impressions and these speak best for themselves. I am therefore presenting the material I have collected so that others may accept or reject, add to or subtract from what I see as the basis for a working hypothesis with important chronological implications. We now have at our disposal a large corpus of Syrian seals of the 18th and 17th centuries B.C., some of which can be dated fairly closely. I believe that a number of these seals and impressions are the products of a craftsman or, more likely, a workshop, which produced seals of very high quality and great originality. We must bear in mind, however, that the work of a craftsman can develop during his career and can also change from one day to the next according to a variety of unconnected factors such as his frame of mind, the quality of the stone he is cutting (generally haematite in this case) and the amount a client is willing or able to pay.