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The Stamp-Seals of Ancient Cyprus

by A T Reyes

Glyptics had a long history in Cyprus; from at least the fourteenth century BC, the island produced seals in significant quantities in a variety of shapes and styles. The cylinders from the Late Bronze Age are well documented, but the stamp-seals which came after them, and preceded the gem industry of classical times, have previously been neglected. This study examines these in order to discover what they reveal about society at the end of the Late Bronze Age when they first appear and the subsequent Iron Age when they proliferated and moved into common use within the island. Reyes discusses the different designs and styles of stamp-seals and their development, local tradition and foreign influence, including a detailed discussion of evidence for Phoenician influence. Also examined are materials and manufacture and the different uses they were put to - inscriptions, sealings, votive practices and personal adornment. There are several appendices and a glossary of terms. 304p, b/w illus throughout (Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph 52, 2001)

Review Quotes

"a valuable step in the right direction...[Reyes] is to be congratulated for presenting a clear, concise, well-documented and very well illustrated account"

Jennifer Webb
Archiv fur Orientforschung (2003/4)

"we should be duly grateful to the author for having made this substantial compendium of information readily available for the first time in the archaeological literature."

R S Merrillees
Bibliotheca Orientalis, LX (2002)

"On p. 2 Reyes states that 'this volume is a general guide to a bewildering mass of material that has accrued over the years as a result of both antiquarian interest and scientific research and yet has been, for the most part, neglected and undervalued'. We can thank Reyes for having redressed the balance in this carefully-produced and abundantly illustrated, accessible yet scholarly volume."

Dominique Collon
Minerva 64 (2002)

Related Titles

• Script and Seal Use on Cyprus in the Bronze and Iron Ages
  edited by Joanna S Smith

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