SELEUCIA- TIGRIS ARCHEOLOGY/MESOPOTAMIA IRAQ/ RARE 1935

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SELEUCIA- TIGRIS ARCHEOLOGY/MESOPOTAMIA IRAQ/ RARE 1935 BY McDOWELL/BIG, ILLUSTRATED, $100-$160 STAMPED AND INSCRIBED OBJECTS FROM SELEUCIA ON THE TIGRIS. BY ROBERT HARBOLD MCDOWELL. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN STUDIES, HUMANISTIC SERIES, VOLUME XXXVI. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1935. First Edition. Rare. A solid First Edition of this rare and fascinating book on ancient artifacts from excavations at Seleucia, the ancient capital of the Seleucid civilization on the Tigris River in what is now Iraq. Lavishly illustrated throughout with many pictures. Published more than 75 years ago, this book has long been out of print and it is now very scarce, usually selling for between $100 and $150. Another First Edition is not likely to come up for sale again soon on ebay. From the Preface: "The material upon which this volume is based was uncovered on the site of Seleucia on the Tigris. Excavations were conducted there during the seasons 1927/28 to 1931/32 by Professor Leroy Waterman, under the auspices of the University of Michigan, the Toledo Museum of Art, and, during the last two seasons, the Cleveland Museum of Art...Chapters I-VIII of this volume deal with impressions of seals and stamps most or all which had been associated with documents or containers of a commercial or an official import belonging to the period of Seleucid control of Babylonia. Chapter IX is devoted to miscellaneous inscribed and stamped objects from the Seleucid and Parathian levels. Some of the seal impressions have been partly discussed by the present writer in two previous publications...The extent of my indebtedness to Professor M. I. Rostovtzeff's recent study of official seal impressions from that site will be very evident to the reader. The material from that site is of a more limited character than that from Seleucia, but Professor Rostovtzeff has thoroughly covered the body of extant knowledge concerning the administration and the financial policy of the Seleucid Empire...." Contents include: Bibliography; Attached sealing of the Seleucid Period - Definitions; Bullae; Relationship of a bulla to its document; Appended sealings on containers; Thumbnail imprints as countermarks on seal impressions; Characteristics of official seals: Use of monograms; Royal portraits as seal types; Representations of deities; Catalog of impressions: Seals of department heads, controllers, private agents of royalty; Impressions of seals of departments of state and their subdivisions: Bibliophylax; Chreophylax; Act of katagraphe; Stamps of collectors of taxes and other dues: Commercial calendar used in Seleucia; Port dues; Salt tax; Seals of private agents of royalty; Notes on the iconography of the impressions: Portraits of Seleucis I; Impressions of private seals: Essentially Hellenic character of the seals; Miscellanea: Token sealings; Models of Seleucid coins; Greek stamp for bricks; Conclusion; Indices: Greek terms, Proper names, General. According to wikipedia: " Seleucia ( Greek : Σελεύκεια ), also known as Seleucia on the Tigris , was one of the great cities of the world during Hellenistic and Roman times. It stood in Mesopotamia , on the west bank of the Tigris River , opposite the smaller town of Ctesiphon ...Seleucia, as such, was founded in about 305 BC , when an earlier city was enlarged and dedicated as the first capital of the Seleucid Empire by Seleucus I Nicator . Seleucus was one of the generals of Alexander the Great who, after Alexander's death, divided his empire among themselves. [1] Although Seleucus soon moved his main capital to Antioch , in northern Syria , Seleucia became an important center of trade, Hellenistic culture, and regional government under the Seleucids. The city was populated by Macedonians, Greeks, Syrians and Jews. [2 ] Standing at the confluence of the Tigris River with a major canal from the Euphrates , Seleucia was placed to receive traffic from both great waterways. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, it was one of the great Hellenistic cities, comparable to Alexandria in Egypt , an... read more

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