archaicwonder: Very Rare Middle Assyrian Seal Ring, 1400-1100 BC This silver ring is engraved with a
archaicwonder: Very Rare Middle Assyrian Seal Ring, 1400-1100 BC This silver ring is engraved with a stylized Sacred Tree or Tree of Life. To each side of the tree is a bull (protective deities); the one on the right is separated by a maltese cross, the one on the left is separated by a rhomb. At each end of the strip is a kind of trefoil. It is deeply and finely engraved and in remarkably good condition for ancient silver. Rings of this kind and quality are rare and it was probably used as a ring-seal. The Assyrian Tree of Life was represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines. It was apparently an important religious symbol, often attended to by deities and priests, or the King. Assyrilogists have not reached consensus as to the meaning of this symbol. It is multi-valent. The name “Tree of Life” has been attributed to it by modern scholarship; it is not used in the Assyrian sources. In fact, no textual evidence pertaining to the symbol is known to exist. -- source link