Presenter: Pınar Durgun, PhD, Jeannette and Jonathan Rosen Associate Curator, Department Head, Ancient Western Asian Seals & Tablets, The Morgan Library & Museum
Stone and clay may dominate archaeological narratives of Ancient Western Asian museum galleries, shaping our understanding through what has survived best. Yet, ancient craftspeople worked within a far richer material world that included glass, glazes, pigments, faience, and one of history’s earliest synthetic materials: Egyptian blue or zagindurû in Akkadian. Drawing on the Ancient Western Asian seal collection at the Morgan Library & Museum made famous by the glyptic scholarship of Edith Porada, this lecture explores how seals can open a window into broader questions of material performance and innovation. Rather than viewing stone as the pinnacle medium in traditional hierarchies of value, it argues for a more expansive perspective on seal materials that recognizes experimentation, technical knowledge, and creativity.