gems, glyptic, engraved gems, agate, cameo, intaglio, shell, ancient gems, Rome, Greece, ancient jewelry, rings

The study of Oriental cylinders is highly complex; it may be approached from several different points of view, which should first be identified in order to define clearly the objective one has in mind. These monuments may be the subject of philological or paleographical observations concerning the inscriptions they bear; of historical or archaeological studies dealing with the scenes that accompany the inscriptions, the symbols they display, or the myths to which they refer; or, finally, of purely artistic considerations regarding the workmanship of these objects, in which one soon discovers great boldness of conception and genuine skill in execution. More than this, through comparative study it is possible to survey these monuments as a whole and arrive not only at a chronological classification but also at a determination of the characteristics of the artistic development that took place in Upper Asia. It is from this latter point of view that I have chosen to present to the readers of the Gazette three cylinders belonging to distinct periods. I did not select them at random; I chose them deliberately, though not as exceptional examples. Rather, I sought the finest specimens of each period, especially those offering some similarity in conception or arrangement of subject matter and thus lending themselves to the comparison necessary for understanding the artistic development of which I wish to speak. To grasp the history of art in these regions, one must refer to the divisions generally accepted today, which recognize the successive dominance of three great empires—Chaldea, Assyria, and Persia—and it is in that order that we shall proceed here.